Temporary Home
by KlainebowKlisses
Summary: Klaine!AU. Blaine has spent the last 7 years of his life stuck in a care home, wondering if he's ever going to escape and find a loving family to adopt him. And then, finally, the Hummels and their amazing son wander into the home, looking for a teenage boy to adopt. Could Blaine have found his free ticket out of there into a life where he can finally be happy?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new story! The title is from the song Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood. The first verse got me thinking and this is what my brain came up with. Also, I have little knowledge of the situation Blaine is in so technicalities may be incorrect. I'd really like to hear your thoughts and whether I should continue, so feel free to review!**

Sinking down further into the old, worn sofa and running a hand through his curly hair, Blaine sighed heavily. He glanced around the room at the multitude of boys running about the place, shouting and screaming as they went. The care home always had continuous background music of high pitched wails from the kids within and Blaine was sick of it. He, of course, did not join in to harmonise with the littler children's squealing, nor the deeper shouts of the older boys. He kept to himself, mostly.

A child of about 9 was suddenly standing in front of him, a wide grin set upon his young face. Blaine supposed, contrary to the horrible situation the band of boys were in, they were all quite happy. The loss of parents in whichever way for each person had not taken away all of their youthful vigour or hope.

Except maybe Blaine's.

"Blaine! Help me and Johnny build our castle? It's out in the garden, come see!" Blaine felt a sharp tug on his arm and he did his best to smile at the young boy.

"I can't, Tim. The Hummels are coming to pick me up soon. You remember them, right?" Tim's smile instantly dropped into a small, concerned frown. He nodded slightly, head staying lowered and eyes not catching Blaine's.

"Are they going to take you away from here?" His voice broke slightly on the last word, big eyes still fixed on Blaine's old trainers.

"Hey, hey! No, Tim. I wouldn't leave you here, would I?" That was maybe a slight lie. As much as the boy could be a pain in the neck, he was one of Blaine's only friends in the whole care home. He tried to ignore the fact that Tim was 9 and he was 15. What's age between friends, right? He didn't need anyone else.

But that didn't stop him from aching to find someone who shared his interests. Someone he could have sleepovers with and stay up until way too late, giggling and sharing secrets. Someone to sing his favourite songs with. Most of all, someone he could just be himself with. No strings attached.

But Tim would have to suffice for now.

He perched on the edge of the sofa, arms wrapping around the small boy and clutching him tightly.

"You should go back to building your castle. Then you can show me it when I get back, yeah?" He pulled Tim back at arms length, hands still braced on his shoulders. He gave a more enthusiastic nod, blonde wisps of hair falling into his eyes. Blaine patted him on the back as he ran off out the door, loose dungaree strap bouncing behind him as he went.

"Blaine!" He heard a loud shout from somewhere in the house, only barely able to make it out above the crash of something or other falling down and the cackles of delight that followed.

"Coming!" He replied hastily, dodging two 12 year old twins named Mark and Steven who were jogging down the corridor with a matching guilty look on their faces. He didn't even want to know what they had done now. Ever since they had arrived at the home 3 years ago, they had made it their mission to destroy everything in the house. Or that was just Blaine's understanding of why they couldn't go a day without breaking something.

Martha, one of the care workers that basically spent her whole life in the home, made her way towards Blaine and ushered him into a small room just before the turning into the main hallway.

The woman was in her mid thirties, raven hair tied back in a messy ponytail and a fringe that was constantly greasy from the amount of times she swept it back through stress. Lines were already beginning to form on her forehead – a common side factor when you spent a lot of time in a house with 10 unruly boys aged 8 to 16 for company. He didn't envy her at all; it was stressful enough living here and keeping out of the other boys' road, never mind actually looking after the horrors.

He watched her as she knelt down slightly so her face was level with Blaine's (he had been praying for a growth spurt for the last year) and that strained smile you gained the moment you walked through the double doors of the building appeared.

"Now, Blaine. I know you're always a good boy when you go out with the Hummels, but I have to warn you to keep it that way. This is your seventh trip out with them and it sounds like you might actually have a chance with them," she said, her tone motherly yet weary, "But you go have fun, okay? I certainly envy you, getting a couple of hours out this mad house." She returned to her normal height, blowing air out of her mouth so that her fringe whipped up off her forehead. The thing with the care workers was that they couldn't differentiate between the younger boys and the older ones. They treated them the same; the same patronising language and actions. He had grown accustomed to it, but not happily. Martha was one of the nicest of the people who worked there, however. She was the only one that Blaine could freely talk to; one that actually tried to make time to get to know each child as individuals instead of just treating them like furniture passing through.

"I will, Martha. Thanks for the bowtie you gave me." He watched her eyes spark with a glint of happiness as she reached out to straighten the light purple bow tie that matched his white shirt, dark wash jeans and old trainers.

"You deserve it. You're the only one who actually acts like a gentleman here and…I can see how much you like the Hummels." He gave her a grateful smile as she kissed him lightly on the cheek, patting the bow tie once more before leading the way out the room to where the Hummels were waiting.

As he rounded the corner, moving into the large hallway that you entered when you walked through the main doors, he saw three of the four Hummels he had grown so accustomed to in such a short amount of time.

It had been 5 months ago that the Hummels had first entered the care home, apparently in search of a boy aged between 14 and 16 to fully foster. Blaine, for a reason that he would never fathom, had stood out to them. Burt had told him later that his mop of dark hair and large, golden eyes had been the pulling factor. How this was a reason to adopt him and not run away from him screaming, he didn't know. But things had progressed and after many visits to the home by the Hummels, Blaine had realised that he actually liked them quite a lot. So when Burt, who threatened Blaine with his stature until he found out he was actually really nice, had asked if he had wanted to venture out of the care home with just him to McDonald's, he had immediately taken up the offer. Aside from wanting to finally get time out of the house aside from school, he actually could see a future for himself with Burt and his family.

Carole, Burt's wife, was a lovely woman. Every time she came to visit him, she would always have a box of cookies clutched tightly in her hand and a warm smile on her face. Blaine knew that Burt's wife had died 7 years ago and that Carole was his second wife. The information of a dead wife had been put to him in a way that made him realise that they expected him to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction, but he couldn't understand why. He could at least empathise with Kurt, Burt's son, on the matter. They both knew what it was like to lose parents.

Finn was introduced to him around the fifth visit to the care home, as custom was that he met the family in steps. To familiarise himself with each one before the next came, he supposed.

If he was being truthful, the sheer height of the 16 year old boy had terrified him at first. He looked like he could squash him with one punch to the arm but as he found out after a 'friendly' greeting of just this, he could survive it. Just. That hadn't stopped him from recoiling in surprise, though.

But, like Burt, the more you got to know Finn, the better he got. He was loveable, though they didn't really have an extensive range of subjects to talk about. Football and singing were the two things they had in common, aside from that Blaine happily listened to him talk about school and the glee club he was in. He was jealous – his school had no glee club and weren't big at all on performing arts. He had resigned himself to singing in his room when his two roommates had cleared off and jumped in mud puddles, or whatever it was they did on a daily basis to make them so filthy.

Last, but certainly not least, was Burt's son, Kurt. Kurt was amazing, to put it simply. They shared loads of the same interests and hobbies and Blaine really loved his personality, most of all. He was bright and bubbly and always willing to respond to Blaine's anxious questions. However, Blaine noticed an underlying sadness to him when he stared off into space. He was also determined to work out what that was and sort it, in time. The small part of Blaine's brain that screamed out how beautiful Kurt was didn't count at all to his impressions of the boy. He knew that that was slightly creepy, if they were ever to become 'brothers'.

He knew he couldn't tell the Hummels about the fact that he was gay. He wasn't going to ruin his chances by telling anybody, especially a family that could actually take him away from this dump. He hadn't ever told anyone and he wouldn't. Not at least until he was much older and could deal with it better. He was only 15, after all.

"Blaine!" Burt called out cheerily, a wide grin setting on his face at the sight of Blaine walking towards him.

"Hey, Burt," Blaine replied, not being able to suppress a smile as he was gathered up into the man's strong arms. He took a moment to bask in the unfamiliar warmth that engulfed him – hugs weren't something that was often offered to him anymore, aside from Martha's occasionally quick embrace. Not since his parents had died in the freak car crash 7 years ago. Since no relative of either of his parents that were still alive was willing to take him in as their own, he had landed up here.

As the other families passed in and out of the place, some ending up with a new son, some not being so lucky, Blaine had always been a constant. Sure, there had been a couple of families that had taken an interest in him, but he had always refused them when they started asking him if he wanted to spend some time outside of the care home.

Some would say that he had been rude, turning them down. He kept telling himself that going out with them would lead them on; make them think that maybe, just maybe, they had found a child to foster. The truth was, however, that he hadn't felt any connection to them. Maybe he sounded like someone looking for his…true love, or something, but he kind of based his assumptions on that process. Or what he'd read in books, anyway. If there was no spark, no instant pull towards the couples that walked in, Blaine knew he wouldn't ever be happy with them.

Maybe he was being selfish and setting his sights way to high, but that was his view on things, crazy or otherwise.

But now, wrapped in Burt's arms and feeling his low laugh reverberate through his body, he knew that he had found the family. The family that he was finally meant to be with.

He could only hope he didn't screw it up.

"You ready, buddy?" Burt ruffled his hair affectionately after he pulled back, happy to see Blaine's face light up.

"I think so. I don't need anything, do I? Unless you want me to bring money for the food, I could go upstai-" He was immediately cut off by Burt's heavy frown.

"Of course you don't. We're all just really happy you still want to see us," Burt replied, gesturing for Blaine to walk first out the large doors leading to the gardens of the huge house. Carole smiled at him as he walked past, placing a hand on his shoulder in hello. Finn gave him a shy smile, hands buried deep in his pockets and his stance awkward and tense. He had told Blaine the second time he had gone out with the family that he didn't like the care home, and Blaine couldn't blame him. For Finn, it was the fact that he didn't know how to act around the kids there who had lost everything they had known; for Blaine, he just simply detested the place. The monotony of the room he had stayed in for 7 long years, watching his roommates settle in then be uprooted as they found a new family. Never Blaine, though.

As he walked down the stone path leading to the road in which he knew the Hummels car would be parked, he turned around to check if he was being followed by the three others. Carole skipped a little to catch up with him while Burt started a conversation with Finn.

"How has your week been, honey? Sorry we didn't pop in last weekend, we had to arrange a few things for…" she trailed off with a smile, eyes lighting up. Blaine was immediately suspicious, but he refrained from prying. It wasn't his business.

"It was good," he said, though Carole must have sensed the slight sadness to his voice. It had probably been a mistake, telling her about how much he disliked the house and the school he was at. Now she could easily see through his lies.

He sighed once, shoulders relaxing a little as he enjoyed the presence of the family, and the freshness of the outside air. It was Sunday, and he hadn't been out the house since he had arrived home on Friday from school.

"The normal, I suppose. A bunch of boys decided it would be funny to lock me in a closet until lunch one day. Aside from that, it was uneventful." He decided to just tell her the truth, not wanting to upset her. He hadn't found the irony of the whole event funny, either. But at least only he could see it. The boys only bullied him for the fact that, with his reading glasses and bushy hair, he looked like a complete nerd. And for the fact that he got high grades that their mental capacity would never reach to, being members of a subset of human beings Blaine named 'Bastards'. But at least they hadn't figured out he was gay. There's always a silver lining.

Carole's face instantly crumpled, eyes boring into Blaine as if to try and read his mind.

"You know you really should tell someone other than us about that. They could help, maybe get them suspended," she replied earnestly, already forming plans in her head to help the poor boy that she had quickly grown to adore. Her eager eyes shot back up to Blaine though, when she heard a bark of laughter coming from him.

"It would do nothing, so what's the point? Really, don't worry about me, Carole." He smiled at her in reassurance, silently praying that she would leave the topic alone. With a final frown she did, staring at the ground beneath her feet as she walked.

They finally made it out onto the quiet street, Blaine looking back at the old house with a smile on his face. Freedom for a couple of hours.

The house was by far the biggest on the street, rising higher and stretching out further than the rest of them. The brick was a mottled brown, one of the many signs of its age. The white frames of windows stood out against the darker surface and from the only open one Blaine could still hear the noise from the kids inside. Or rather, Martha's loud shouting as she no doubt scolded the twins for whatever they had done to make the large crash. The house even had a balcony on its top floor, but the door to it was always locked tight. Health and safety hazards, he supposed. The roof rose higher than the tall bushes that surrounded the garden – a fence keeping the animals in the zoo locked inside. Blaine had never been in the attic; had never wanted to. Ahmed, one of his two roommates, was the only, and last, kid to go up there, returning as white as a sheet and claiming he had seen a ghost. Blaine didn't believe him, but he still had no desire to go up and test this opinion. The lawn surrounding the house was perfectly cut, a bright shade of green despite people trampling over it all day. Since Tim was nowhere to be seen, he guessed that the site of the 'castle' was nearer the back of the house.

"You okay, Blaine?" Finn asked him, frowning a bit at Blaine's dazed expression. He snapped out of his reverie, craning his neck to look at Finn.

"Sure," he replied simply, spinning around and searching out the silver car he was used to seeing.

"Wait, where's your car?" He looked at each of them in turn, frowning as a slow grin appeared on all of their faces.

"We can walk to the place. Come on!" Burt patted him once on the shoulder before beginning to walk down the road, Blaine lengthening his strides to keep up with the man. He could hear Carole scolding Finn for wearing a shirt that had a mark on it behind him, and he looked up at Burt in confusion.

"Where are we going?" Burt looked down at him, smiling slightly.

"You'll see when we get there. We have a surprise for you."

"A surprise? But I don't need anything special and… wait, where's Kurt?" He narrowed his eyes as Burt chuckled deeply.

"Just wait till we get there, alright? Kurt's waiting for us, don't worry." Burt would be lying if he said he couldn't tell that Kurt and Blaine had hit it off the moment they met. He was extremely glad for this – if the two boys could be good friends, it would make the whole process of Blaine's fostering easier.

Not that Burt had actually discussed that small detail with Blaine yet. The fostering agency was well aware that he would love for Blaine to become a part of their family, but the paperwork couldn't be put through until Blaine agreed. And he wasn't near ready to ask Blaine yet, as this was only their seventh trip out. It would take more time than that to gain Blaine's full trust.

They continued walking for the next 20 minutes, comfortable chatter going backwards and forwards between them about everything and nothing. Blaine even tried to get Finn to tell him where it was they were headed, but with a sharp jab to the ribs from his mother, Finn had quickly shut up.

But then Blaine focused his senses. The music rising loudly above the rows of houses; the chatter of excited people; the smell of candyfloss and sweets.

And that's when his brain pieced together the fact that the travelling circus was in town. And no matter what anyone said, he would always believe that he definitely did not jump up and down and clap his hands in excitement when he realised.

"The circus? We're going to the circus? No way! You guys are best!" He launched himself at Burt, hugging him around the middle and nearly quivering with excitement. The family started laughing at him then, so he prised himself off of Burt with a large smile on his face.

"We thought you'd like it," Burt said fondly, leading Blaine around the final corner.

Multi-coloured tents rose high into the air, situated at the far end of the field. The music was even louder as they walked closer, the infectious beat causing Blaine to subconsciously pace his strides with it. A multitude of different stalls weaved around the front of the field – the source of the smell of food. Blaine took a deep breath, mouth watering already. Banners and ribbons were hung up over the stalls, swaying slightly in the warm summer breeze. Blaine didn't think he had ever felt happier. This was his first time at a real circus and he had fallen in love with it already.

"You took your time!" Kurt shouted from a little way ahead of them, a warm smile plastered onto his face.

"Kurt!" Blaine couldn't help from exclaiming, rushing over and pulling him into a quick hug before he even realised what he was doing. Kurt chuckled as Blaine pulled away, completely welcome to the new greeting. He really liked the boy, his bubbly personality was infectious and he was extremely perceptive of other people. He was free and open, something Kurt wasn't used to at McKinley. Plus, they were around the same age.

Blaine looked slightly shocked at his own brazen move; the happiness was probably deluding his rational thought. But he figured from Kurt's smile that it was okay and he forced himself to smile back.

"Let's go to the circus then, shall we?" And with that he found himself following an undefined pathway through stalls, all thoughts of the care home and his situation gone. They had brought him here to have fun, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

**I hope you liked it! Share your thoughts with me on whether I should continue it:) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back! Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/alerted the last chapter! It really means a lot. Now we're off to the circus! (Or MY circus. I've never actually been, so it's a bit of improvisation. Bear with me!) Also, excuse my Britishisms! Annnddd, for reasons, Blaine is 15, as is Kurt. Then Finn is 16! Glee Club has never competed as they've always been short a member and…I think that's it for now! Enjoy!**

Within minutes of traversing his way through the masses of crowds, marvelling at the sheer joy emanating from the entire scene he was in, Blaine knew he was in his own little heaven. Kurt was at his side, trying to slyly study Blaine's face, which was a picture of unadorned delight. But Blaine couldn't notice these small things; not when there were much more important sights around him.

When he was a little boy, his mother used to read him a story every night. After running upstairs in anticipation and clumsily pulling his pyjamas on and half heartedly brushing his teeth, he used to curl up under the blankets with his head hidden under the covers. The moment he heard the soft footsteps of his mother making her way up the stairs, he wouldn't move a muscle. He didn't even breathe. Because if he moved just a finger, his mother would know he was there, waiting.

And when, finally, Blaine judged the soft creaks of the floorboards were close enough to him, he would jump from under the covers and roar at his mother, a sloppy grin adorning his young face.

And of course she would shout in surprise and scold him for being naughty, but all the while the most beautiful smile Blaine had ever seen would appear on her face, and Blaine knew she was only joking.

Every night, they would then curl up in Blaine's small bed and read a story together. Blaine's head would snuggle into his mother's chest and her arm would wrap around his back. It was always Blaine's favourite time of the day, as he felt safest in her arms.

His favourite story was, of course, one about a travelling circus. Blaine loved to hear the adventures of the various animals that were in the show, the brightly dressed performers, and the delighted visitors. It had always been his favourite book and that time, basking in the dim light of his bedroom, was the most prominent memory he had of his mother.

But now he realised that the many colourful drawings of the circus in that very book had been wrong. Because not one colour had been bright enough, not one drawing big enough, to capture the grandeur of what was now right in front of him.

Maybe he was blinded by his childish love of it, or even because he had never been before, but he couldn't help but become entranced.

Which was why he got such a fright when Kurt's loud shout of his name and a light smack on the shoulder finally penetrated his thoughts.

"Wh-what?" He tore his eyes away from the grand, multicoloured marquee not 10 steps ahead of him.

"Do you want cotton candy?" Kurt's slightly worried and intense stare made him wonder exactly how long he had been in a daydream.

But judging by the similar look on Burt, Carole and Finn's faces, it had been a bit too long to be considered sane.

"Sure, cotton candy sounds…good," his voice was hesitant and Kurt's eyes only grew more concerned.

"Right…well, we can go get that. Everyone else are going to go over and start queuing for the main show. That okay?" He nodded earnestly, following Kurt as he started to walk to a small stall over to his right.

Kurt gave a long sigh as they reluctantly joined the back of the queue, which was made up of no less that 10 people.

"This is going to be a long wait," Kurt grumbled, glaring at the back of the other patrons' heads in annoyance.

"Be nice!" Blaine swatted Kurt's arm playfully, a grin stretching onto his face. He started giggling, _giggling, _when Kurt slowly turned his head and aimed his glare at Blaine instead of the line of customers. Okay, maybe he was still nervous in Kurt's presence. He couldn't really help it – the other boy just seemed to be in his own separate league from everyone else. There were things different about him, qualities that Blaine rarely saw harboured in anyone else. They didn't know each other excellently, but Blaine knew enough to know that Kurt was someone he could really care about. In an entirely non-creepy way, of course. He could be extremely sharp and cutting when sleepy or nervous, but was also extremely caring. His voice was like that of an angel's, sweet and pure, but still holding a certain masculinity that made it like no other. He had even passed off Blaine's nervous mumbling when they first met as cute, persevering with him until they had reached the state they were at now. Friends? Blaine didn't know if Kurt thought of him as a friend; he had heard many details about all Kurt's friends in his Glee club. He didn't think he could ever compete with them, yet he wanted to.

Finally a friend that wasn't 9 years old.

He could hope, right?

Kurt couldn't hold his straight face any longer as Blaine pulled the most stupid look he could muster. His eyebrows raised, eyes widening beyond belief and tongue lolling out his mouth. Kurt dissolved into hysterical giggles, Blaine pretending not to know what he had done.

"You're – You're eyebrows!" He choked out between fits of laughter, hand clutching his stomach, "They're so cool!"

Blaine chuckled nervously, taking a step forward as the rest of the line moved up. A tall man with a child on his shoulders turned around to see what the commotion was about, frowning when he saw Kurt bent over and letting out inconceivable noises of laughter.

"Cool? That's not how they've been described before," he hesitantly said, eyeing Kurt. Was he joking?

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Kurt finally gained composure and smiled widely at Blaine.

"They're triangular, which makes them the coolest eyebrows ever," Kurt stated with finality.

"Uh, thanks?" Kurt only smiled wider as they moved closer to the front of the line.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Blaine asked a moment later, head craning to see the machine the cotton candy was made in.

"Sure, what is it?" Kurt replied, looking at Blaine in confusion as he gave up his futile attempts of trying to see around, quite possibly, the largest man he'd ever seen in his life.

"I've, uh, never actually had cotton candy before," Blaine looked down in embarrassment as Kurt's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"You-You've never... huh? Were you deprived as a child?" As soon as he said it, Blaine could immediately tell he realised his mistake. His grin fell to a look of pure horror; hand coming up to his mouth in shock. Blaine could only chuckle slightly, turning his head to the ground.

"Blaine, I am so, so sorry. I just- I wasn't thinking! I completely forgot because we're here and I feel like I'm just out with a friend and – oh God, I really screwed up, didn't I?" He spoke fast and high due to his panic.

Friend. He had just said that Blaine was like a normal friend to him. A personality that he could differentiate from his situation.

Suddenly, all his sadness disappeared at once and he only felt remorse for Kurt.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, it's okay," his voice was soothing and he rested a hand on Kurt's shoulder in reassurance. Kurt was having none of it, turning away from him immediately.

"It's not okay! I can't believe I just said that and – and I know how it feels because I get it all the time!" His words were filled with anger now, voice raised and permeating through the hum of the crowd's conversations with a vengeance.

"Kurt, listen to me," he lowered his voice, trying to get Kurt to do the same. He watched as the boy sighed deeply, hands flopping down to his sides uselessly. In a bold move that Blaine only did because he needed Kurt to stop beating himself up, he took one of his hands in his own and grasped it tight. "It's okay, I promise. I know you didn't do it maliciously or anything. I'm kinda glad that you forgot, actually." He watched as Kurt's eyebrows rose slightly and his eyes slowly slid from Blaine's gaze and focused on their intertwined hands. He swallowed, throat drying, but his panic was starting to subside.

"You're glad?" His voice was now soft, almost childlike. His eyes never left their hands.

"Yeah. People label me before they know me because of my background. They see foster home and they immediately…make their own assumptions. That I'm either really dumb or I'm out to kill everyone the moment their backs are turned. They don't know me by Blaine, just 'that kid from the foster home'. It's turned into an identity and it's not exactly one I can escape easily."

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking deeply. "Do you know what it's like to feel as if you've been branded with a luminous sign on your forehead that reads 'Loser'? Like, no matter what you do, no one will come within ten feet of you because they're either scared of you or automatically hate you? No one has ever really…tried, with me. After my parents died, that was it. I was the poor kid with no parents, and then the freak in that creepy foster home on the corner." He sighed, eyelids closing and blocking his view of Kurt's face that was now piercing him with a gaze so intense, Blaine thought he could melt under it. But not necessarily in a bad way.

"I'm really grateful of you and your family. You have…_no _idea how much this is helping me."

And woops, maybe he shouldn't have just let that all out to Kurt. But it was just so good to finally talk to someone, even if Blaine knew they couldn't possibly understand how he felt.

"I do know," Kurt breathed out, the words barely caressing his lips before they floated away with the wash of the breeze.

Blaine opened his eyes again, staring at Kurt quizzically.

"What did you say?" He watched as Kurt sniffed, a small smile forming on his mouth.

"I said I'm glad. Glad that we help. It doesn't sound like you've had an easy ride." Blaine frowned. He could've sworn Kurt hadn't said that in the first place. But instead of prying, because Kurt listening to him was more than what he could ever dream of and he didn't want to cross any boundaries, he simply smiled back.

It was then he realised that their fingers were still laced tightly together and somewhere along the line, Blaine's thumb had started to caress the back of Kurt's hand.

Trying to stifle his gasp, he pulled his hand away, shocked at what he had done. Kurt realised too, the moment the comforting heat of Blaine's hand had disappeared. And he didn't understand why he craved for it back so much.

They exchanged a strained, awkward smile before turning away from each other. The territory was new; unfamiliar. For Blaine, he had never had a friend he could be close with in general, never mind physically. Unbeknownst to Blaine, however, Kurt's reasons were extremely similar.

But Kurt wasn't ready to share the story of himself to Blaine. Not yet, not when they were just becoming good friends. They could even be brothers someday and obviously Blaine would then be a part of their family. And families don't lie about sexuality, bullying, or anything of the sorts.

As Kurt turned back to face the front of the queue, hands fiddling together idly and still overheated from Blaine's own, he thought about what the curly haired boy standing awkwardly beside him had said.

Blaine had somehow managed, knowing nothing about Kurt's school life or certain hidden parts of himself, to describe exactly how he felt. The isolation, the desperate need for someone to see past the sign that read gay that seemed to be pinned on him wherever he went. But no one would, as Blaine had said. No one cared enough to see past identities that were made by others for you, and learn who the true you really was.

Sure, he had the glee club. But none of them, as much as they tried to, could really connect with him. No one understood how it felt to fear coming to school. At least not for something more than worries of how their new dress would come across to the student body. A real fear, one that shook him to the core, making him flinch with every passing step.

But Blaine, Blaine with his bush of curly, dark locks, his black framed reading glasses, and his talent of making every silly thing about him endearing, understood. For different reasons, yes. But finally he had found someone who knew, who struggled alongside him.

And for the first time since his father had mentioned fostering a child, Kurt finally agreed with him. And he hoped with all his heart that that child could be Blaine.

While Blaine continued staring at the different sights around him – the charming smile of wonder that had barely left since his first glimpse of the circus still firmly in place – he allowed himself, for the first time, to drink the boy in.

His hair was unkempt, ringlets of dark brown curls falling over his forehead and almost reaching his eyes. It was bushy at the back, yes, but it strangely suited him.

He hadn't worn his glasses today, probably because he hadn't expected to do any reading. His eyes were the most entrancing colour of hazel he had ever seen. Not once had Kurt seen the shine in them dim, not even slightly. Or maybe that was because Blaine was truly happy with the Hummels. Kurt hoped so, more than he ever thought he would.

He slid his eyes further down, taking in his quirky light purple tie and smart, white shirt. Not once in all the times Kurt had seen Blaine had he been wearing anything other than a shirt. He supposed this showed Blaine had manners, or that he actually cared to make himself presentable for them coming. Whatever it was, it worked on him. Extremely unconventional for a 15 year old, yes, but he somehow managed to pull it off. And from Kurt, that was a complement and a half.

He also wore a pair of dark wash jeans – not skinny, Kurt immediately noticed. The opposite from his whole wardrobe, but nice enough.

His only criticism was aimed at the tatty white – or what might have been white 5 years ago – trainers that were on his feet. The laces were fraying at the ends and were loosely tied, slightly trailing on the ground.

He promised himself that one day, he would get him a pair of new shoes to replace the horrors that he was wearing.

He quickly snapped his head round to the front again as Blaine turned back round, moving just quick enough so that Blaine didn't catch him staring. He took a deep breath before finally speaking again, breaking their long silence and moving closer to the front of the queue as he spoke.

"Ready to taste cotton candy for the first time, then?" Blaine startled at his words before grinning.

"Of course! What does it taste like, anyway?" Kurt wasn't surprised to find a keen interest glowing in Blaine's eyes. If a simple thing like cotton candy could make him so happy, Kurt didn't want to imagine what his life at the foster home could be like. Blaine complained about the noise to him sometimes, expressing his need for a private space that you just couldn't get in a house of 10 boys. Other than that, he didn't complain much. But what with his speech about school and what little he knew of the bullying, it didn't seem like he lead a very content existence. But he was too much of a gentleman to moan.

It was small things like this that he was learning about Blaine that made him what to know more. In time, he promised himself. In time he would learn. That's what true friends were for.

"Well, it basically just tastes like sugar," he said, considering for a moment. He laughed as Blaine screwed up his face in distaste. "I swear it tastes nicer than it sounds."

"Well, after this wait, it better. If not, you're to blame. Okay?" Blaine punched him on the shoulder lightly, giving him a lopsided grin.

"Whatever, eyebrows." He winked, finally noticing that there was no queue left in front of them and that it was finally their turn.

Kurt walked forward first, Blaine following in his wake as he quickly spat out his order of 5 cotton candies.

Blaine watched in amazement as the tall, young guy behind the table took a thin wooden stick and spun it around the machine, pink fluff slowly starting to build up on it until it was almost the size of Blaine's head.

He took it from the man's outstretched arm eagerly, eyes widening as it brushed his finger slightly. It really was like cotton.

He kept staring as the man made 4 more, Blaine awkwardly trying to steady them all in two hands as Kurt struggled to get the money out his pocket. Blaine tried not to laugh as nickels and dimes flew everywhere. He accidentally let out a snort however, but all that rewarded him with was the cotton candy nearly falling from his hands and a glare from Kurt.

When they were finally walking away from the stand, correct money paid and food still safely in hand, Blaine nudged Kurt in the side with his elbow.

"You were smooth back there," he joked, darting away as Kurt tried to swat him.

"Shush. Let's go find the rest of them before you drop everything, dummy." Blaine could only smile as he trotted to keep up with Kurt's fast stride, finally catching Burt standing halfway down the queue to the marquee.

Carole was standing next to him, shoulders lightly touching as they waved at Kurt and Blaine simultaneously.

"Hey, dad," Kurt said as they finally came to a halt beside them, gesturing immediately for Blaine to hand the cotton candies over.

"You took your time, huh?" Burt asked as he took the first bite, sugar smearing around his mouth as it met the moisture on his lips.

"The queue was really long and _someone_ can't count out money," Blaine teased again, watching as Kurt desperately tried to keep his face impassive.

Burt and Carole shared a quick smile with each other, a smile of relief more than anything else.

Burt had been worried by Kurt's initial lack of enthusiasm towards a new kid in the house. He had been unconcerned by it, not including himself in family discussions about the matter or voicing any more opinions than that he was fine with it.

When Kurt had first met Blaine, his spirits had picked up. He had seemed to enjoy being with the boy, commenting that he was really nice.

Now, however, he could see how their relationship had grown. They had never properly teased each other about things before but to Burt, he knew that this was a signal of comfort. Of friendship.

Things were working out better than he could ever have hoped. They had certainly been lucky to meet the kid.

"So where's Finn?" Burt asked, licking his lips and taking another bite. Kurt and Carole had started demolishing their own food too, but Blaine was still staring at the pink cloud in his hand.

"What do you mean? He was with you," Kurt said as the cotton candy dissolved on his tongue.

"He thought you two needed a hand. He left a couple of minutes after you did. He didn't come?" Kurt shook his head, a frown settling on his face.

Carole sighed in frustration beside him, her head moving from side to side as she scanned the crowd for her son.

"Where the hell is he, then?" Burt exclaimed, shoving more cotton candy into his mouth.

"We can split up to look for him, if you want? Kurt and I could go that way," Blaine said, nodding to his left, "Carole could go the other and you could keep our space in the queue?" Burt nodded his head after a moment's hesitation, taking a deep breath.

"Fine. But the show starts in 10 minutes, so you better hurry!"

Immediately, they all briskly walked in the direction they were supposed to go, Blaine walking beside Kurt. They craned their heads, eyes frantically searching for Finn. He couldn't be that hard to find, he was so tall.

"You know, you can eat that whenever you feel like it," Kurt said, eyes only flickering to Blaine before he continued searching.

"I…I know. I don't know why I'm not, to be honest. It's just so…fluffy. It seems a shame to ruin it." Kurt frowned, but it immediately faded into a fond smile.

"We can go back later and get you another fluffy one that you can keep forever, kay? Just try it, I promise it's nice." Blaine frowned at his sarcasm, but took a bite – if you could call it that since it was so soft – of the cotton candy.

And his mouth immediately fell open again.

"Like it?" Kurt teased, a smile forming on his face.

"Dear God, yes," Blaine said before practically burying his face in the substance, taking large bites at a time.

Kurt chuckled, eyes still scanning the crowds for Finn. "Blaine!" he scolded as Blaine shut his eyes in contentment, starting to stumble along after him, "We're supposed to be looking for Finn, remember?" He heard a soft grunt of approval and his eyes flickered back open, just in time as he was about to crash into another man.

They swivelled through the people, getting desperate. The show was going to start soon.

"There he is!" Blaine pointed over to their left, where Finn's head could just be made out over an older man's figure.

They walked over swiftly, Kurt ready to give Finn a piece of his mind. But then he saw that he was talking to someone, mouth stretched into a wide grin.

As they finally reached him, Kurt saw who he was talking to. A girl of about 16 or 17 was leaning up against the back of a park bench, long blond hair flowing down her back in waves. She was strikingly beautiful, with pronounced cheekbones and bright, interested eyes. She laughed as Finn told a joke, her head thrown back in delight.

But now was not the time to admire her.

"Finn!" he shouted, the boy's head immediately snapping up and the smile slipping off his face. "What're you doing? We're all waiting for you and the show's about to start!" He turned his accusing glare from his brother to the girl, eyes softening. "I'm sorry; Finn's going to need to go now. He hopes to see you later. Bye!" And with that, Kurt had dragged Finn back in the direction they had come from and the confused girl was left in their wake. Blaine followed behind with a grin on his face.

"What was that? What about Rachel?" Kurt asked, almost shouting at a bewildered Finn.

"Dude, calm down!" he jerked his arm out of Kurt's grasp, not noticing Blaine coming to walk beside him instead of behind, listening to their conversation with wide eyes. He knew who Rachel was from conversations with both Kurt and Finn. Animal sweater lady and, he had thought, beloved girlfriend of Finn's.

"Oh, yeah. We're kinda on a break at the moment," he shrugged. Kurt stuttered for a moment.

"And nobody thought to tell me this?"

"Sorry, dude." Kurt sighed heavily as they finally reached Burt and Carole, who had returned from her search. Kurt took a step back as they both started lecturing Finn on disappearing.

He looked at Blaine once before looking back again, eyes widening in shock.

"Where did your cotton candy go?" he asked in wonder. Blaine shrugged, smiling cheekily.

"I finished it," he said proudly, brandishing his bare wooden stick. Kurt could only shake his head, going back to eating his own unfinished one.

They only had to stay in line for a couple of minutes before the queue started to head inside the marquee, Blaine more excited than the whole family put together.

He couldn't wait to see if the show was like how it was in his story book, or, if like the rest of the circus, it was bigger and better.

He hoped for the latter.

Rows and rows of wooden chairs were set up in the middle of the marquee. Bordering it were different sculptures of animals, made from a material that Blaine didn't know of but it had a slightly bluish hue. The lights were dimmed in the tent, the room cast in a slightly purple glow from one of the many lights that were situated all around them. Blaine looked up and saw purple and blue banners hanging from the roof. Music was playing loudly in the background, a cheery beat that was quintessentially circus- like.

Blaine couldn't stop smiling. He followed Kurt, slipping into one of the chairs near the middle of the marquee, but he immediately found he could not keep still.

"Kurt, look! Look at all the sculptures and…everything, Kurt!" He grabbed onto Kurt's bicep lightly, head tilted up and eyes trying to take in everything at once. Kurt stared at him in wonder – he hadn't been as excited as Blaine was now about something in years. It was strangely invigorating and infectious, and soon Kurt was trying to see what Blaine saw.

"It's amazing, Kurt. Better than the book. So much better." Blaine's voice was soft and his mouth stayed parted after he finished talking.

"The book?"

"My mum used to read it to me when I was younger, before…" he cleared his throat, smiling, "It was my very favourite."

Kurt was having trouble believing that Blaine was real. He wasn't like the guys at his school, the stereotypical teenage boys. He was sweet and sensitive, and still seemed to be able to revert back to a childlike mindset. But it was only childlike because he found wonder in everything, the way a 2 year old learning all about the world would. Something that most people had lost by the time they were 15, too busy with more serious things. But Blaine had somehow kept it.

"I'm glad you're here," Kurt burst out, still staring at Blaine in adoration. Blaine glanced at him from his studying of the tent, their eyes locking together.

"Me too," he almost whispered, smiling softly.

They spent the rest of the time in the tent before the show started discussing Blaine's old circus book. Kurt had never heard of it, so since Blaine could remember it so well, he gave Kurt a detailed description. The fire never left his eyes for a second.

The show finally stared soon after, the first act – jugglers – making their way onto the stage in their brightly coloured costumes. Their faces were painted and they performed their act without fault, Blaine clapping along enthusiastically to the music.

Next were the unicyclists, of whom Blaine admired. He couldn't understand how they managed to balance so easily and he was jealous. He wished he could do that for himself.

Next were the gymnasts, who had perhaps the most brightly coloured costumes of them all. Each was dressed in a luminous leotard, dancing and flipping their way across the stage with the grace of a butterfly.

Blaine couldn't remember the last time he had been this happy.

The last act was the aerialists. There were two of them, one on the trapeze that was lifted high into the air, and one on a tightrope that was hanging even higher in the air. As the two men performed multiple tricks, so vulnerable up at that height, the crowd gasped. One wrong move and they could fall.

But that was what made it so exciting.

Blaine found himself clutching onto Kurt's hand, but this time Kurt was doing the same back. As each trick was performed their grip tightened, then relaxed as they immediate threat was over.

An hour later, as all the acts finally left the stage for the last time, Blaine laughed. He laughed because he could; because he wanted to. Because he couldn't remember feeling this happy.

They walked out the marquee with light hearts and grins on their faces. As soon as the sun was radiating onto their skin again, Blaine spoke to all of the Hummels.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here. You'll never understand how much it means, so just… just thank you." He was rewarded with a large smile from Finn, a clap on the back from Burt, a hug from Carole and a quick squeeze of the hand from Kurt. Somehow, so quickly, this action had become comfortable for them. Blaine didn't know what it was that had changed between them, but something had. Blaine could finally say that he had a proper friend, and he was delighted.

"I guess it's time we took you back, Blaine," Burt said, starting to walk towards the street again. Back to where they came from.

Blaine was a little disappointed that he had to go home, but he was still on a high from the circus and this new sense of belonging and acceptance he had just found.

The walk back to the home seemed shorter, but he was guessing that that was because he had Kurt there to talk to. Conversation and teasing flowed freely between them now, something that the others couldn't fail to notice.

Burt had realised something today. He had realised that, even if they never fostered Blaine (though this was the worst case scenario) he would still be a part of their family. They would be there if he ever needed them. He really had grown fond of the boy.

Blaine finally turned into the drive of the large house with a smile, even though he was disappointed to have to say goodbye to the Hummels. He turned when he got to the large double doors, waving at them and shouting yet another thank you. Even from down the drive, he could hear Burt's soft chuckle.

Just as he was about to turn the door handle, he heard a shout of his name from behind him. He turned again to see Kurt running up the path to him.

"I was going to ask you something," he panted as he reached Blaine.

"What is it?"

"Do you have a mobile?" Kurt asked, eyes curious and alight with an idea.

"Um, yeah. I don't turn it on often, but I suppose I can if I need to. Why?"

"I was wondering if I could get your number. So maybe we could go out as just normal friends without this foster home arrangement nonsense.

Blaine immediately smiled widely. "I'd really like that." Kurt grinned in response, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Do you know your number?" he questioned, pulling out his own phone from his back pocket.

"I think so." He read off the digits he had once memorised in a state of boredom with nothing better to do. Kurt entered them into his phone before sliding it back into his pocket.

"I'll phone you, okay? Remember and turn it on!" Blaine grinned in response.

"I will!" With one final wave he turned back to the door, hand pulling the handle down as a final shout of, "Bye, eyebrows!" came from behind him.

He chuckled as he slammed the door shut, ready to face the oncoming wave of noise that he couldn't escape from.

Except now, maybe he could.

He ran upstairs and immediately turned his phone on, slipping it into his pocket. Just in case.

**Thank you for reading, please review to tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And forward we go! **

The moment Blaine walked into school every single day, it was like the clocks slowed down. As if they knew that this was his least favourite place to be and had decided to take advantage of that fact, hands almost grinding to a complete halt.

God, he hated clocks.

Or so he told himself as he sat in Calculus, head turned to glare at the object in question that was hanging primly on the wall to his right. Or maybe he was just trying to take his anger out on something that wouldn't turn and beat him up if it knew.

It was the period before lunch and Blaine had already been slushied, hair still damp with the blue ice to prove it. Luckily, he had a spare outfit in his locker for times like these, but it made him miss the beginning of his first class.

Overall, not a good start to the day. Though, really, when did it ever start well anymore?

He scrunched his face up as his black framed glasses slid down his nose, finger rising to push them back up as he sighed. He had finished the work the rest of the class were still staring, clueless, 10 minutes ago and since then he had spent his time staring at the stupid clock and glancing out the window. It was a beautiful, warm day outside and he was stuck in these monotonous classrooms with people that hated him, rotting away like meaningless vegetation.

He glanced back at the clock; only 3 hours left until he could go home. He could survive that.

He startled as a folded up piece of paper suddenly careered onto his desk, landing on top of his open jotter. He frowned at it for a moment before spinning round in his chair, trying to catch a snicker or a small smile from one of the students. All their faces were impassive however, so he turned back to the note.

He took it in his hands as if it were a bomb, gingerly unfolding the crumpled edges. Smoothing it out lightly with his hand, he read the hastily scrawled message:

_Saw yous at the circus yesterday freak. We thought you were joining by the look of that bow tie_

Great, another note to add to his collection. He tried to be indifferent to the messages that were fired at him randomly through class, but it was hard when it felt like everyone was just watching to see how he would react. Glassy eyes penetrating through him, leaving scars that would not fade.

And also, they had _really _bad grammar.

He scrunched it up in his hand, stuffing it into his jean pocket to bin later.

2 hours 56 minutes.

Only 1 more period left and he was out of there. Since the hate-note incident, nothing else had gone spectacularly wrong. He had just glided through the last couple of hours, praying to god that he was invisible in the large crowd that filled the corridors. And he had been.

Up until now.

Before he registered what had happened, his back was slammed into the row of lockers to his right and he was suddenly on the floor, body crumpled in on itself in pain.

_Shit, that hurt._

"Don't touch him!" one of the boys exclaimed and Blaine looked up in shock, wondering who in the hell would defend him. After a momentary pause, the jock that had spoken burst out laughing. "You don't know what shit's in that home!"

And away they strolled, doubled over with laughter, leaving Blaine immobile on the floor and trying not to cry as a stabbing pain shot through his back.

Maybe this last hour wasn't going to be so easy, as he severely doubted whether he could even walk to his next class. But he grimaced and bared it, because that's what he had to do. That's what he always had to do.

Over. It was finally over for another day. The throbbing pain in his back was his steady reminder that although that was it for today, he had to come back tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

But for now, he could relax. As much as he hated the home, at least he didn't have to live in fear there.

"Blaine?" He heard a loud shout of his name from behind him. He was walking through the corridor that would eventually take him to the main entrance of the school, the path he had to take from his locker.

He spun around quickly, already on guard in case it was one of the jocks again, wanting a last minute show before he left and they lost their favourite act for the day. Luckily, it was just his Calculus teacher, head peeking around the door to his classroom and staring at Blaine from across the hall. Blaine frowned a little before walking over, surprised when Mr Burns gave him a reassuring smile before gesturing for him to walk into the classroom. Blaine did so warily. What on earth did he want him for?

It hadn't been that long since he had been in this classroom; this was the one in which the note was chucked at him not 3 hours before. He honestly didn't want to be back there so soon.

"So, Blaine," Mr Burns said, hands clasping in front of him and smile still stuck like glue onto his too cheery face. Blaine forced himself to smile back. "I was watching you in class today and you seemed…upset by something." Blaine forced himself not to groan; a teacher noticing the bullying he was subjected to was not a comforting thought. He knew that they could do nothing and the bullying would just become stronger if they did find out, and that was not what he wanted.

"Upset, sir? Why would I be upset?" Feigning ignorance was probably the best way to get out of this situation.

"Well, I thought I saw a note in your hand. Blaine, did someone in that class give it to you? Did it say anything spiteful?" Mr Burns genuinely looked concerned, which was a massive surprise to Blaine. But that didn't make him more eager to speak about it.

"No, no, that was just a note from…Lisa." He cleared his throat, trying not to let his face give away his lie. Lisa was a quiet girl that kept to herself, mostly. She was definitely not the type to send notes of any kind to him.

"Lisa?" Mr Burns didn't look convinced.

"Yeah. It was just… um, homework. She needed to tell me about homework for…English." His eyes darted to the clock, brain quickly thinking up and excuse to leave before he was asked any more questions. "I really need to go, sir. Thanks for seeing if I'm fine, but I have a…uh, a club." He walked over to the door hastily, probably sounding really rude but not caring enough to right himself.

"See you tomorrow!" He waved slightly, hearing a timid 'bye' come from inside the classroom.

_Now _he was finally free.

"Blaine!" Spinning around in his chair, he smiled at Tim who was skipping into his bedroom with a grin on his face. He had just that moment finished his homework for the night, and was ready to just lie down and do nothing for the remaining hours of the day.

But honestly, when did he ever get to do that?

"Come play with me in the sandbox? You said you would yesterday after you got back from the Hummels, but you didn't," he sighed internally, only slightly peeved that his free time was now filled with amusing Tim. But he couldn't say no, not when the boy was pouting at him like that.

Damn his weakness to small children.

"Come on then!" he forced his voice to sound excited, Tim's small hand doing its best to pull him up. He forced himself out of the hard chair at the lone desk in his room, making a big fuss and moaning and groaning to make Tim laugh. He let himself be guided down the stairs by the small boy, just managing to dodge one of his roommates, Thomas, as he sprinted up the stairs, yelling to Ahmad who was waiting at the bottom.

As they made it through the backdoor relatively unscathed, Blaine took a large gulp of the evening's slightly humid air. He loved being outdoors; the freedom was so refreshing and welcome. Spending most of your time cooped up in school or your bedroom unwillingly kind of made you treasure the time you spent away from stuffy rooms with bare walls.

Even if he did have to kneel down in a sandpit for the next hour.

"Johnny knocked our castle over yesterday, so you couldn't have seen it anyway," Tim announced, falling heavily to his knees right in the middle of the sandpit. Blaine cringed as he reluctantly stepped in too, not needing to remove any footwear because he had neglected to even put socks on before he came out. He squatted beside him, one finger lazily drawing swirls into the soft, pale sand. Tim had already lined up the different sized buckets beside them, staring at them with deep confusion set in his eyes.

"Why did he knock it down? Wasn't that a bit mean?" Johnny wasn't one of Blaine's favourite people in the foster home – Blaine knew him to be extremely inconsiderate to other people's feelings, and his manners left much to be desired. But you couldn't really blame him, seeing as he didn't come from a good background. From the whispered conversations of the staff he had sneakily listened in on, he had learned that his mother and father were drug addicts and had abused him. There probably hadn't been much time for manners through that.

"Nah, it was crap anyway," the boy said simply, finally choosing the largest of the castle shaped buckets and beginning to scoop sand into it with the small red spade.

"Hey!" Blaine blanched, shocked at Tim's word choice. Where had he learned to use the word crap? He was 9, for God's sake. This was what homes with tearaway boys did to people. "Crap's not a nice word, you know that," he scolded, grabbing a smaller bucket and starting to spoon the small grains into it with his bare hands, as he couldn't be bothered finding another spade.

He looked up as Tim hummed softly, watching his little face screw up in concentration as he tipped the bucket upside down, hit it with his fist a few times then gently lifted it up revealing a perfect castle.

"Oh!" Tim shouted, spinning round to face Blaine and knocking the newly formed sandcastle over with his foot as he went. He didn't seem to notice though, face peering up at Blaine with unadorned delight.

"I knew I had something to tell you! But then I forgot, but I just remembered!" Blaine smiled at him, giving up and finally fully sitting down, resigning himself to the fact that these were old joggers and that he could easily wash them.

"What is it?" he said cheerily, catching the boy's infectious happiness.

"The Johnson's said that they would foster me!"

"That's great, Tim!" Blaine grinned, wondering why the boy was so excited. He had been seeing the Johnson's – a middle aged couple who desperately wanted a son but couldn't have one of their own – for many months now. After that long, you knew they wanted to foster you. But obviously Tim wasn't talking about fully fostering, just that they had mentioned it to him.

"I leave on Friday!" his small hands began the process again to rebuild his crumbled castle. Blaine froze for a second, looking back up from the sand below him.

"Wait… what? You're leaving on…" He stuttered, not quite understanding. Sure, Tim had been staying at the Johnston's for extended periods of time lately but he had thought… he had been sure that…oh God, why hadn't he seen this coming?

"Yup! You'll be fine without me, right? I know I said that you couldn't be your family's new son yet, but now that I'm gone, you can move in with them too! Right? Then we both don't have to be alone!" He clapped his hands enthusiastically as he lifted the bucket off once more, revealing yet another perfect castle.

Blaine didn't have the heart to tell him that that wasn't how it worked. That, just because Tim got whisked off on his white horse, Blaine did too. No, he would be left here to rot.

By himself.

"Exactly," he whispered, trying to mask his pain, but knowing his smile was slipping. "I have to go inside now, Tim. You…uh, yeah." He stood up, stepping out the box and brushing his dirty joggers down with his hands, a shower of sand falling to the grass.

"Okay, Blaine!" he said cheerily, picking up his spade and starting to dig a hole.

Blaine walked away, muscles stiff and posture tense. The only person he got along with in the foster home, although 9, was leaving him. Leaving him like everyone else throughout his life had.

And he knew he should be happy for the sweet little boy who's life was about to change for the better, but all he could feel was sadness. And a little bit of jealousy.

He climbed the stairs in silence, ignoring the normal hubbub around him more easily than normal. As if he was gliding, a ghost, not able to truly connect with his surroundings. Martha may or may not have tried to talk to him as he walked through the kitchen, but he couldn't remember. He didn't care.

When he finally reached his room, he felt relief wash through him as he saw no sign of Ahmad or Thomas. He immediately sunk down onto his bed, face down on the pillow. His arms came up to hug the soft object, and he wasn't surprised to find that he had started crying.

He was sick of it. He was sick of being alone, sick of being in the crappy home, sick of _everything. _He had had a taste of what it would be like to be in a normal family yesterday, when he was out with the Hummels. And he wanted it so badly, it felt like emotion was searing through his veins.

Why couldn't he just be normal?

He forced himself to keep quiet, not wanting the others to hear him cry. But no one really cared, he knew that.

He startled as he heard the unfamiliar buzz of his phone from the desk on the opposite side of the room. He hadn't turned it off since the Hummels had left yesterday. Who on earth would be texting him? The only person that knew his number was…Kurt.

He flew across the room, hands grabbing out clumsily to get the phone. He quickly unlocked it, heart racing as he read the message.

_Miss the candyfloss, Eyebrows?;)-Kurt_

Blaine couldn't help but grin through his tears. Maybe he wasn't completely alone.

_Among other things – Blaine_

He crossed the room and sunk back down on his bed, back resting against the hard surface of the wall. He didn't take his eyes off the phone, jumping in fright as it lit up and buzzed around 5 minutes later.

_You okay?:( - Kurt_

I am now, Blaine thought. Even Kurt's presence through merely texting was enough to raise his spirits slightly.

_I've been better – Blaine_

He didn't want to lie to Kurt, but he didn't want to worry him either. Or would he be worried?

Yes, he supposed he would. That's what friends were for, right?

The simple word _friend_ never failed to shoot a pang of happiness through him, the feeling tingling all around him.

_Bad day? – Kurt_

_Something like that :) – Blaine_

He decided to just call it a night, chucking his phone on the bed while he changed into his pyjamas quickly in case his roommates suddenly walked in. It was only around 8, but he had had enough for today.

_I'm sorry:( I would come and give you some of the cookies I just made, but you're a bit too far away – Kurt_

Blaine lay down on his bed, beaming at the text as he reread it at least 5 times before he pulled himself together enough to answer back.

_I'll just have to get them some other time ;) – Blaine_

He closed his eyes, snuggling into his duvet. He was just about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed again, and he made a half hearted attempt to look at it.

_Looking forward to it – Kurt_

Maybe, just maybe, he could get through this.

**I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter because I think it came out a bit…meh. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again to everyone who has favourited, reviewed, etc. I really hope you're enjoying this story so far:) The little snippet of lyrics is from a beautiful song called Shattered by Trading Yesterday. SO FORTH WE GO, into the crushing world of poor Blainers…**

"See each other soon, right?" The small boy said as Blaine clutched him in his arms, closing his eyes tightly and trying to savour the last moments he got with Tim before he was whisked away to his sparkling new life.

"Sure," Blaine whispered into his shoulder, knowing that this was a blatant lie. When boys were fostered, they were never seen at the home again. It was two different worlds, ones that could not mix. Tim didn't know that this was a final goodbye, but Blaine did. And as much as he knew he was being silly, it killed him. Yet another farewell to add to his list.

But Tim was going to be happier and safer, and knowing that the innocent little boy would get this was a comfort to Blaine. He cared more about Tim's happiness than whether or not he had a friend at the home. Tim deserved this.

And that was why, with a final wave goodbye to his friend as the car drove off, he didn't cry. The smile on his face didn't even falter, not until he was back in his room, huddled under a mountain of covers. Only then did his resolve break, tears slowly making their way down his cheeks and onto his pillow as they so often had been doing recently.

The rest of his week had been as bad as the first day, slushies and notes and shoves into lockers continuing, maybe even more so than before. He had had no more texts from Kurt or contact from the Hummels, and he missed them. His only sense of normalcy could so easily be cut out of his life and it wasn't even under his control. He was entirely reliant of everyone else to either make or break his day and unfortunately, it was nearly always broken.

He didn't dare tell anyone that he was extremely unhappy. He hadn't felt this lost and alone since his parents had been torn from his life, and he didn't understand why. Nothing had changed, except maybe the amount of bruises on his back, yet he felt worse than usual.

Now Tim was gone, and it was just another thing he was going to have to deal with and get used to, whether he liked it or not.

That didn't stop him from staring out the large window in his shared room every night after Ahmad and Thomas were asleep, large hazel eyes boring into the stars above. He always found the brightest one and wished, wished so hard it hurt. Clichéd, yes. But did it help? A little. It was a small comfort to him, at least, making him think that maybe, like all the people in the Disney movies, he would get his happily ever after. One day, maybe.

He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of his room door opening, so he peeked out of the covers to see who it was. A shabby boy of 16 was now standing in the middle of the room, fringe falling in eyes that were staring at Blaine, a host of emotions swimming through them.

Blaine didn't talk to Thomas regularly. They were civil to each other, but neither would class the other as a friend. Occasionally, they would ask each other for help with homework, sometimes even with events in their lives. It was of mutual consent, to be there when the other needed them, but when not in need there would be no reason to talk. Blaine had found when Thomas first moved in that they didn't have much in common.

It was peculiar, but it worked. It was better than the complete lack of relationship he had with Ahmad.

"Blaine? Are you okay?" Surprisingly, concern washed through Thomas' words. Blaine took the liberty of shuffling up into a sitting position, hurriedly wiping the tear tracks away. Thomas' concerned eyes met his own and he frowned.

"Yeah, of course," Blaine sniffed, forcing yet another smile onto his face.

When did his whole life become a mess smoke and mirrors?

"You don't look it," he replied. Bluntness, one of Thomas' highly endearing traits. Blaine sighed, eyes moving down to stay firmly locked on the bedcovers that still covered most of him. "Look, I know you're upset about Tim leaving, it sucks. I also know that you don't have many friends he-"

"Any," Blaine whispered softly, cutting him off. It was Thomas' turn to sigh now.

"_Any _friends here, but… you will get out," Blaine's head rose immediately, ready to automatically shoot any form of hope anybody had for him down.

"Don't tell me I'm wrong. You've been talking in your sleep a lot lately – always about the Hummels. Kurt, mostly."

Blaine's eyes widened, shocked at how much Thomas actually knew. Blaine realised he talked in his sleep, but he didn't know it was often or it was about _that._

"What do I say?" Blaine asked hesitantly, watching Thomas as he smiled slightly as if amused by something. Uh oh.

"Mostly asking them to take you away from here. To save you… rescue you…" Blaine observed him trying to think, but his own face had crumpled up in humiliation. He sounded like a complete baby.

"It's sometimes about the jocks, asking them to leave you alone…you sometimes shout 'don't make me come out'. Actually, you say that a lot. Are you trapped in a room, or something?"

Blaine stiffened, heart racing. He was pretty sure his subconscious didn't mean 'come out' literally. Now he had to be terrified that his subconscious would tell people he was gay. He couldn't even trust himself anymore. Excellent.

"Um, yeah. I think so," he stuttered, eyes still refusing to meet the other boy's. Thomas was now sitting beside him on the bed, one knee tucked up under him and the other foot bracing him on the floor.

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't worry. It might suck without Tim here now, but you will get out." Blaine's eyes finally flickered up to Thomas' intense blue ones, smiling slightly.

"Thanks, Thomas," he really was grateful for the boy. He didn't have to even talk to him, yet here he was, comforting him.

"Anytime," with a final pat to his covered knee, he got up off the bed and went to the door, giving him one last smile before it was shut behind him.

Blaine gave a long sigh, reaching up to massage his temples as he felt a headache coming on. Since he was alone he started to sing softly to himself, eyes sliding shut and back leaning against the wall.

He didn't think he was a very good singer, but it was something that he enjoyed regardless. It helped him clear his head.

_Who I am from the start; take me home to my heart;_

_Let me go and I will run; I will not be silenced._

_All this time spent in vain; wasted years wasted gain;_

_All is lost but hope remains and this war's not over._

The soft melody filled his ears, luring him into a sense of calm.

As quickly as the serenity had filled him, it rushed out of every pore as his phone loudly buzzed from across the room. It was plugged into the socket, as he had kept it on since last Sunday when Kurt said he'd text him just on the off chance that he did. He had only had one conversation with him through the device so far, though.

He slowly got up from his nest of covers, trudging across the room and picking his phone up. He opened the message, eyes drooping from exhaustion. What with school and Tim, it had been a long day. Too long a day.

_You still up for coffee? – Kurt_

He smiled slightly, finding comfort in the fact that someone had not forgotten him. _Kurt _actually wanted to see him.

_Of course. What day suits? – Blaine_

He replied instantly, sitting down at his desk and hunching over his phone, desperate for it to buzz again.

He had invested so much in the Hummels, it sometimes scared him. He had accidentally given 4 people so much power over his happiness. Because if they decided that they didn't want to keep seeing him now… he couldn't even think about it.

_Is tomorrow at 1 okay? Do you know where the Lima Bean is? – Kurt_

Blaine vaguely remembered going to the little coffee shop a few times on the way home from school. It was a quaint place and he had enjoyed sitting there, relaxing and not feeling like he was standing out from the crowd as he usually did. It was also a place the jocks never bothered to go into, apparently too cool to just sit and have a coffee. No, they'd rather be out terrorising the youths of Lima.

_Sounds good! Yup. See you then:) – Blaine_

He left his phone on the table, spirits uplifted slightly just from knowing he was going to see Kurt again. That, for the first time, he was going to have coffee with a friend.

He strolled out the room, a small smile playing on his face. Maybe he could go help

Martha with the kids before dinner.

Blaine was smiling slightly as he walked down the quiet street, just moments away from the Lima Bean. It was a beautiful day; there was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was soaring, just the way he liked it. He had only needed to put on a thin T-Shirt and a pair of khaki shorts and flip flops, knowing it was too warm for anything else.

He finally reached the coffee shop's door, pushing it open and hearing a soft bell chime with his entrance. He took a deep breath, scanning the small room to find Kurt. He was exactly on time, so he should be here by now…

He found him sitting in the back corner at the window, staring out it idly and not paying attention to his surroundings inside the shop. Blaine noticed his coffee cup on the table, deciding to go ahead and get his own before he joined him.

He was served instantly as there was no queue, quickly stuttering out that he wanted a medium drip. It only took a few minutes to make, Blaine tapping his foot and trying not to stare at Kurt as he waited.

He noticed that Kurt's hair was, obviously, styled perfectly. He had on a light white shirt and a pair of red skinny jeans. Wasn't he boiling in those?

He nearly missed his name being called to signal his coffee was ready, picking it up and walking over to Kurt's table.

"Hey," he said timidly, slipping into the seat opposite him and smiling.

"Hi!" Kurt snapped out of his daze the moment Blaine came into view, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Sorry, I was a bit out of it there," Blaine chuckled, relaxing back into his seat, Kurt's presence somehow instantly a comfort to him.

"Aren't you boiling in those jeans?" he blurted out, not being able to stop himself. He

tapped his foot against Kurt's own, watching as Kurt frowned at him.

"You can't look this good without consequences," he joked, winking at Blaine as he tapped his foot in return. Blaine good-naturedly rolled his eyes, humming in indirect agreement. Kurt was right; he did look good. But it was probably wildly inappropriate to start complementing his skin tight jeans and how amazing they were on him.

"How have you been?" Kurt asked when Blaine didn't elaborate. Blaine's eyes momentarily flickered down to his coffee, taking a long sip to put off answering the question. For some reason, he couldn't lie to Kurt like he could everyone else.

Maybe it was because he thought Kurt maybe cared.

"Not…great," he cleared his throat as the coffee accidentally scalded his insides, increasing the awkwardness of the situation he had just willingly put himself in.

"What's happened?" Kurt looked genuinely upset by Blaine's answer and Blaine's heart jumped slightly.

He paused before he answered again, deciding exactly what to include in his answer.

"Tim left on Friday," Kurt frowned, trying to remember who Blaine had said Tim was.

"The little boy?" Blaine nodded in consent. "What, did he get fostered, or…?"

"Yeah. I should've seen it coming, he was spending so much time with the family but… it was still a blow." He shrugged, trying to lighten the conversation.

"I'm so sorry," Kurt answered. Blaine had told Kurt about Tim being his only friend there, so he knew he understood. A popular guy like Kurt would never be able to empathise, but at least he understood.

"How about you? Any gossip this week?" Kurt's eyes lit up, ready to tell one of his many interesting stories about the New Directions.

"We think Finn and Rachel broke up again, but no one's sure. They won't talk about it. Not even to _me, _and I'm their step brother and best friend," he scoffed a little, rolling his eyes.

Blaine nodded enthusiastically, gesturing for him to go on. And Kurt did so willingly, talking about his Glee club for the next 20 minutes at least, Blaine nodding at the right times and occasionally asking questions. He loved to listen to Kurt talk, no matter what he was saying. He managed to make everything he said captivating and Blaine thought he could sit there all day and listen to him.

"- but then they made up, so it was fine in the end. Wait, I'm talking about me too much," Kurt frowned, eyes growing worried.

"No, you're not! I like hearing about your life." Okay, that wasn't what he had wanted to say. Woops.

"You do?"

Blaine nodded, finishing off his coffee and licking his lips. "Yeah. It seems so much more…exciting than mine. I'm a bit jealous, actually."

Kurt's frown only deepened and a strange look passed over his face, but it was gone before Blaine could figure out what it was.

"Never be jealous," Kurt murmured, eyes focussing on something out the window. Blaine didn't really know how to answer, not knowing what Kurt actually meant by that. A comfortable silence passed over them for a few minutes, both boys lost in their own thoughts.

"How's school?" Kurt asked softly, Blaine looking up and seeing that Kurt's eyes were firmly placed on him.

"Um… it's just… normal," he cleared his throat as it grew tight.

Suddenly, all his negative emotions from before came rushing back like the tide, fully drowning any positive thoughts that Kurt had given him. He didn't know why, maybe he was just over-emotional that day, but he was shocked to find tears had pooled in his eyes. The bullying; the dread; the loneliness, all returned.

"I have to go, um, to the bathroom," he stuttered, immediately getting up and leaving Kurt before he could get a word in edgeways.

He rushed into the men's bathroom, immediately locking himself in a cubicle and sitting on the closed lid of the toilet. The tears overflowed from his eyes, running down his cheeks in harsh streaks.

He didn't really know the full extent of why he was crying, just that he was and he needed to stop right now before he embarrassed himself in front of one of the only people he could talk to.

But he couldn't stop, because his worries surrounded him like the mottled grey walls of the tiny cubicle. They held him tight in their grasp, never letting up on him for a

second.

Damn his tendency to cry easily.

He knew full well that there were people in way worse situations than him in the world, but that didn't stop him from allowing himself to be miserable.

He froze as he heard the door to the bathroom open then close again, soft footfalls echoing in the near empty room.

"Blaine?" The voice – _Kurt's _voice – called softly from through the door.

_Shit. _He must look like a complete state. His eyes were probably red and bloodshot and he had messed his hair up from running his hands through it repeatedly and _what was he going to do now?_

"H-here!" He managed to choke out, hands scrubbing furiously at his face to try and get rid of the tears.

"Are you okay? You didn't look too good back there, I wanted to check if you were alright," Blaine couldn't focus on the tenderness of his words, only that Kurt was going to know he had been crying and would ask question and –

"Of course! Just, um, give me a second," he took a few deep breaths, praying that he didn't look like too bad.

He plastered a smile onto his face as he unlocked the door and walked out, not meeting Kurt's eyes as he went to wash his hands, even though he didn't even need to. He glanced at himself in the mirror once and inwardly cursed as he took in his bright red cheeks and bloodshot eyes. Kurt would have to be blind to not notice.

"Blaine, what's wrong?" Kurt came forward to him, eyes filled with concern.

He wasn't blind then. Damn.

Blaine placed his hands on either side of the sink and lowered his head, sighing heavily.

"There's nothi -"

"Then why have you been crying?" Kurt cut in softly and Blaine could see him reflected in the mirror.

Again, he couldn't lie to Kurt. But was it pointless to tell him the whole truth?

Kurt noticed his pause, sighing slightly. "Blaine, I promise that I can try to help," he raised a steady hand to Blaine's forearm, the clasp like a lifeline to Blaine.

Maybe getting it out would help.

"It's…school. Things are getting worse,"

"Worse? Worse how?"

"Just…the bullying is happening more. They're getting even… even more violent," he could hear Kurt softly gasp behind him. "They push me into lockers more than they used to and harder than they used to. They insult me in the corridors all the time and throw notes at me and I just – I'm just sick of it, Kurt."

Kurt's face crumpled as tears started streaming down Blaine's face again. Really, would they ever stop?

"Oh, honey," Kurt soothed, turning Blaine around without a second thought and gathering him in his arms, one arm snaking around his back and the other coming up to support his head.

Blaine immediately relaxed into him, shaking as he cried. He clutched onto Kurt as tight as he could, needing to know that someone was there. That he might not be alone after all.

"I know how you're feeling, Blaine. I understand," Kurt breathed, chin resting on the top of Blaine's head, his fluffy curls tickling his pale skin.

"How could you possibly know how it feels? You're liked," Blaine said, jealousy seeping into his voice. Kurt closed his eyes tightly, knowing that to comfort Blaine, he would need to share his story.

Even the fact that he was gay.

He just hoped he wouldn't run away screaming.

"Blaine, I'm not popular. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression because that's not…" he took a deep breath, somehow clutching Blaine even tighter. "I'm harassed everyday by a group of jocks that have made it their mission to make my life a living hell. They…shove me into lockers, call me disgusting names…so yes, I do know how it feels."

Blaine pulled back from him slightly, face poised only inches away from Kurt's own so that he could see every flick of colour in Blaine's eyes. They were partly confused, partly horrified and Kurt thought that, just maybe, he could see a little bit of hope in them.

"But why would they bully you?" He said softly, his breath ghosting over Kurt's face.

If he could help Blaine in any way, he would. No matter what. No one deserved what Blaine was going through. So he took a leap of faith.

"Blaine…I'm gay," he watched, terrified, as Blaine's eyes widened to the size of saucers and his mouth parted. But he didn't make a move from his position.

"Oh," he said softly, and Kurt could only smile slightly because what could he say to that?

But he kept watching Blaine closely; could practically see the cogs turning inside his head. What he was thinking, Kurt couldn't figure out. But he still hadn't moved back.

He seemed to choke on his words for a few seconds, mouth opening and closing. "I'm…I'm sorry that they…that they bully you for that. They shouldn't, it's not right." Blaine prided himself on his eloquent answer. But really, this was a huge revelation. Kurt was like him, Kurt…Kurt knew. Kurt actually understood.

Although Blaine was extremely upset that Kurt was getting bullied too, he couldn't help but feel a tad happy that he really _wasn't _alone anymore. But he couldn't tell Kurt about himself yet, he wasn't ready to say it; to let anyone know the part that he had to hide the most thoroughly.

"We'll fix this, Blaine. I promise," Kurt whispered, and Blaine believed him. He trusted Kurt. Maybe together, they could fix it all.

**I'd love to hear what you think and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the atrocious amount of time I've taken to update. This is a short filler chapter, and the next should be up next weekend! **

They parted ways outside the café with a long hug, Kurt's promise to Blaine resounding in his ears as he walked home. The mantra of 'maybe we could fix it' was pounding through his head, soothing him. It was a consolation to him, as he walked back into the home with a lighter heart, that someone cared.

Because Kurt _knew_ what it was like to be taunted and hated, he related to Blaine in that respect completely. But Kurt, unlike Blaine, had had the courage to come out. To tell the world who he was and not be ashamed of it – something Blaine didn't think he could ever do.

Maybe he would tell Kurt eventually. He knew for sure that Kurt wouldn't judge him, but… something was holding him back. He had kept this secret hidden for all of his life; it wasn't that easy to just tear those walls he had built around himself down. He didn't know if he envied Kurt for his bravery or pitied him for the bullying he was going through. Alike to Blaine's own experience, but at the same time on a whole new level. If Blaine told everyone that he was gay, the bullying would only get a hundred times worse and really, what was the point? It wasn't like anyone else at his school was gay, so why did they need to know?

He walked through the double door of the home smiling slightly to himself, so glad of what had just happened.

His heart sunk a bit as he walked into the living room, however, instinctively looking around for Tim but then realising he wouldn't see him.

He bypassed Ahmad, who was sitting on the sofa playing his Nintendo, and walked up to Martha who was bustling about as usual.

"Blaine! Thank god you're back! Did you have fun, honey?" She was dusting the whole room (a job that technically wasn't _her_ job but she insisted on doing it anyway because apparently it 'was never done properly') and her breaths were coming out in short puffs.

"Yeah, I did. Did you need any help?" He watched as a relieved smile passed over her face as she moved to plump up the sofa cushions.

"Could you set the table for me?" Blaine nodded enthusiastically, "Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver," she ruffled his hair affectionately, Blaine swatting her away good naturedly before she hurried out the room.

He wandered into the kitchen, leaving the sound of Ahmad's new Mario game behind him, and began to collect the stupid amount of cutlery needed to satisfy the number of boys there. It clanked together as he gathered it into his arms, struggling a bit but managing. He hobbled through to the dining room, careful not to drop everything.

Shoving the door open with his foot, he walked in and immediately dropped all of the cutlery into a big pile on the massive table, ready to be sorted.

He almost didn't even notice the blonde haired boy sitting on the other side of table. He blanched, eyes wide with surprise. The boy was around his age, a messily cut fringe falling into his curious eyes. He was broad and looked like a jock. Blaine also knew for a fact that he didn't stay at the home, so who the hell was he?

"Um, hi," The boy said to him, mouth twitching up at one corner to form a timid smile. Blaine forced an identical one onto his own face,

"Hey," He cleared his throat – the situation was incredibly awkward. The boy made no move to say anything else, so Blaine scolded himself for his own shyness and spoke again.

"Who are you?" Maybe that could have been taken as a bit rude. He cursed himself internally – ineloquence was his ultimate downfall.

"I'm Sam Evans, Martha's son. And you?"

Blaine hadn't known that Martha had a son. Hell, he didn't even know she had a family; she spent so much time at the home that Blaine didn't think she'd have the time to look after even more people. But evidently, if this boy was evidence enough, she found a way.

"I'm Blaine. I, um, live here," he began to pick up the cutlery, sorting them into forks and spoons and knives before placing them at their correct places.

A knowing smile passed over Sam's face as he followed Blaine's movements with his eyes.

"She talks about you a lot," Blaine stopped in his tracks, meeting the blonde's eyes.

"She does?" he almost squeaked, quickly going back to the cutlery placing before he made even more of a fool of himself.

"Yeah. She says you're very…sweet? And nice, I think." Blaine felt a surge of affection for Martha in that moment – she really did like him.

"That was very nice of her," he said politely, flashing him a smile as he finished one side of the table.

Sam stayed silent for a few minutes before breathing in deeply, "You're the guy that Kurt's dad is thinking about fostering!" he exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

Once again, Blaine stopped in his tracks, head snapping up in shock.

"You…you know Kurt?" He managed to stutter out, eyes wide with shock.

"Course, he's in my Glee club. He's really cool," Sam said casually, Blaine still just as confused.

"Wait, you go to McKinley with Kurt?" Sam gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, dude. That's what I said," He cursed himself for looking like a complete freak, but luckily Martha decided to swish through the door at that moment.

"Blaine! I see you've met my son, Sam," She smiled widely at them both, waiting for someone to say something. Sam smiled at Blaine for a last time before rising out his seat.

"Can I go wait in the car, mum?" He asked, already heading out the door.

"I'll be 15 minutes, sweetie!" She called after her son, turning back around to Blaine with a grin.

"You didn't tell me that you knew Burt before all this," he said, head bowed to the table. He continued putting the last of the cutlery on, fully focussing on the job and feeling a little bit betrayed.

"No, I didn't. I know….I know that I probably should have, but would it have made any difference?" Blaine shrugged slightly, finally placing the last knife down.

"Look, honey, me knowing him before only made me sure that you would be perfect for his family," she placed her hands on Blaine's shoulders, forcing him to look at her.

"I suppose," he said quietly, sighing. He was actually kind of jealous of Sam because he could spend so much time with Kurt, since they were in Glee club together. He had no idea of how close they were, but the envy was undeniably there.

"So," she changed the subject slightly, walking around the table and placing cups down, a smile playing on her mouth, "How was your time with Kurt?"

He grinned at her in return, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting down. "Really, really great," he said, blushing ever so slightly.

"Mmm, I can tell," she said, eyes darting up to slyly watch Blaine's reactions. She knew that Kurt was an excellent influence on Blaine and that he was now partly reliant on the boy. They had become very close in a short time.

"You can?" Blaine questioned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"You just look really happy, that's all. Kind of glowing."

"Oh, um…right," Blaine said, unable to respond to that. Kurt made him _glow?_ Hmm.

"He's very cute," Martha said a few moments later, stopping in the middle of the room.

"Who?" Blaine said, pouring himself a drink from the large container in the centre of the table.

"Kurt. He's really cute," she said, eyes assessing his reactions knowingly.

Blaine stopped mid-pour, eyes meeting hers in shock. Could Martha tell that he found Kurt unfairly attractive for a maybe-future-brotherly-thing? No, she couldn't. He rarely even let _himself _think about that. But wait…did that mean she thought he was gay, too? He was so confused.

"Um…yeah," he stuttered out. _Yeah? Why the hell did you just say that, Blaine? Well done._

He heard Martha chuckle as she walked over to the open door, shouting out of it for the boys to come for their dinner. Blaine watched her curiously as she winked at him. _How could she know? She couldn't know. She couldn't._

She walked over to him and kissed him on the head, whispering something in his ear before the rest of the boys came trundling in.

"It's okay," she said simply, patting his shoulder before leaving the room so that she could go home with her son and let one of the other workers take over.

Blaine could only watch her go in wonder, amazement, horror and confusion.

**It would mean the world if you could review! Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Why hello there! I'll reinstate the fact that I don't know about the process of adoption sooooo…I'm just going with it. I apologise and hope you're enjoying this so far!**

Throughout the next week, Martha didn't speak a word to Blaine about Kurt or the Hummels. This was unusual in itself, as it was an almost constant topic of conversation between them – how it was going with them, when they next wanted to see him. But after what she had said last Saturday, it was especially strange.

Blaine kept himself busy in the weekdays with school, avoiding bullies, helping around the home and visiting the Lima Bean again. When he did get time for himself, he thought about the Hummels – Kurt especially – but also Martha. Could she really tell that he was gay? He didn't think he made it that obvious, but maybe he had done. The only valid explanation that he could come up with about her censorship of that one particular topic was that she was letting him ponder it on his own. Maybe she wanted him to come to her to talk about it.

He also knew that that was probably not going to happen soon. Exactly like with Kurt, he couldn't shatter the walls he had built around that part of himself that easily.

The bullying stayed much the same throughout the week – no majorly distressing incidents happened, just the usual taunts and shoves. But it was wearing him down, and by the time Saturday came he was exhausted with it all. He just wanted a break with the Hummels and luckily, they had asked him earlier in the week if he wanted to go out to dinner with them on Saturday night. Obviously, he had agreed.

After a day filled with helping out with the littler ones in the home and a quick trip to the Lima Bean, it was finally 15 minutes before they were due to arrive.

And he was stupidly panicking because he didn't know what to wear. He didn't want to look stupid next to Kurt but, in truth, he didn't own that many clothes. The ones he had were basic and… not at all up to Kurt's standard. And he felt like he needed to impress him for some twisted reason. The funny thing was that he had never felt he needed to look _this _good for them before. Good, yes, but not the level he was aiming for now. He had no idea what exactly had changed, just that it caused more problems for him.

He sifted through his clothes that lay, tidily stacked, in drawers. Though by the time he had finished rummaging around for the third time, tidy was not a word that could be used to describe them anymore.

He moved backwards to collapse on his bed in frustration, sighing heavily. He had found his old, black Capri pants at the bottom of his top drawer and had ungracefully put them on, but as for his top half he had come up with a blank.

"So stupid…" he whispered to himself, crossing his arms over his bare chest while still lying down. He had 10 minutes left. Excellent.

Just then he heard a soft knock on his door, so he turned his head to see what had caused it. Thomas' head poked around the side, a frown covering his face.

"Can I come in?" he asked, already halfway through the doorway. Blaine made a quick gesture of approval, too frustrated to do anymore. Thomas walked across the room, sitting down on the edge of his own bed and facing Blaine.

"Aren't you supposed to be dressed or something? I thought you were going out with the Hilmels."

"Hummels," Blaine corrected sharply, closing his eyes and screwing up his face in impatience. He didn't have time to talk to Thomas. "That's sort of my problem. I can't _find _anything to dress myself _in_," He got up again, heading to his drawers and going through them yet again, though he knew it was pointless.

"Oh," Thomas pondered, moving his hands to sit on them for no apparent reason, "If you wanted, you could wear something of mine. I have this shirt that I bought, but I don't really like it anymore. It's kinda your style. Want to see?" Blaine turned around quickly to face the boy, wondering why he was being so nice and friendly.

"Um, sure," he said, watching as Thomas went to his own set of drawers and immediately pulled out a blue, short sleeved, chequered shirt.

"We're kinda the same size, I guess," he held the piece of clothing up and Blaine surveyed it. Thomas was right – it was his style. He could put his suspenders on, too…

"I'll take it," he said, catching the shirt when Thomas immediately threw it at him, "Thank you so much, you just saved my life," he told him as he pulled the shirt on over his olive skin.

"It's fine, man. Have a good time!" With that, he left the room before Blaine's head emerged from the shirt. He found his suspenders reasonably quickly in his drawer and, with a slight struggle, put them on. He slid on his old, disgusting trainers (as usual) and ran down the stairs, panicking as he saw that it was 5:02 – two minutes past when he should have been downstairs.

He could only hear low talking from the entrance hall as he made his way through the final corridor. It was surprisingly quiet in the home, as one of the workers had shepherded all of the excitable boys outside to play football as it was such a nice day.

He eventually skidded round the last corner, almost falling as he stopped.

"Sorry I'm late! How-" he stopped speaking as he took in the sudden cease in conversation.

Martha was standing next to Burt, leaning close to him and they had obviously been discussing something important before Blaine had made his graceful entrance. They were now staring at him with wide eyes and it made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

Kurt was sitting on one of the seats at the edge of the room, eyes focussed on Finn and glaring at him. Finn was standing at the other side of the room, looking sheepish with his eyes downcast.

Overall, not a comfortable atmosphere for Blaine to be parading around in.

"Um, hi," he said instead, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes scanned the room, flicking from one solemn face to the other. What was going on?

"Hey, buddy," Burt said, forcing a smile onto his face. He paused for a second, looking at Finn and then Kurt. "Kurt, could you and Blaine wait in the car until I'm done here, please?"

"Sure," Kurt answered; Blaine noticed the tinge of annoyance in his tone. He gave a small smile to the boy as he rose from the chair, only getting a miniature one back.

Something was seriously wrong.

He followed Kurt as he headed out the door, walking behind him in silence as they made their way up the garden path to the street. Blaine could hear the kids playing football round the back – heard but not seen.

They reached the Hummels' car that was parked just outside the house. Kurt opened the back door for Blaine, so he hopped inside and sat awkwardly while Kurt slammed the door and headed around to his own side.

"Kurt?" Blaine said timidly as the other boy eventually made it into his own seat beside him. Blaine was genuinely worried about Kurt and his family – he had never seem them like this before.

"Carole had to work at the hospital," Kurt said, explaining the absence of his step-mother when Blaine hadn't even noticed she was gone. He was skirting around the subject – whatever that subject was.

"Kurt, what's wrong?" Blaine said with a bit more force, watching as Kurt heaved a sigh and turned to look out the window.

"Finn told my dad about the bullying," Kurt said softly, and Blaine was sure he heard him sniff.

"The bullying? You didn't tell him about it after all this time? Kurt, I-"

"No!" Kurt raised his voice slightly, turning around to face Blaine. The moment he saw Blaine's shocked face, his features softened slightly. "Sorry. No, Blaine. Something…something else happened," his eyes dropped and he looked so scared; it broke Blaine's heart.

Remembering what Kurt did to comfort him the week before in the café gave Blaine the confidence to shuffle closer to him and timidly take his hand. Kurt looked at him with wide, grateful eyes and Blaine was shocked to find that there were tears pooling there.

"You can talk to me. If you need to, I mean. I'm just…I…I'm here," Blaine stuttered, giving him a small smile.

Kurt took a deep breath, "Karofsky – the main guy that I told you about – he pushed me too far. I snapped and confronted him." Blaine moved even closer to Kurt as tears started to roll down the pale boy's face, "It, um, didn't go well. He…he grabbed me. And he kissed me, and I was so scared that he wouldn't get off and it was disgusting!" Kurt said, near hysterical, and Blaine let him collapse into his arms as he sobbed.

"Kurt, I…" he felt Kurt shake his head into his shoulder and trailed off, knowing that he couldn't help him with words. He needed to listen.

"I pushed him off and he ran out. The only person I told was Finn, but he promised not to tell my dad and he just did and I-" His sobs were too strong for him to continue so Blaine rocked him back and forth in his arms, clutching him tighter than was deemed safe. He was trying not to start crying because he knew that that wouldn't help Kurt at all. He needed to be strong for him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered brokenly into Kurt's mussed hair, feeling Kurt's sobs slowly subside. He couldn't even imagine what Kurt was going through at the moment; he had thought his situation was bad. But Kurt's…it was so much worse and Blaine didn't know how to help him.

After a couple more minutes Kurt's head rose so that his cheek was resting against Blaine's own. The embrace was surprisingly intimate, and it shocked Blaine so much that he stopped breathing. He could feel Kurt's erratic breaths puffing out onto his ear as they both stayed still. Blaine was pretty sure Kurt hadn't meant to initiate this pose and was as shocked as him.

"Thank you," Kurt whispered into his ear before moving away slowly. Blaine sat frozen for a good 5 seconds before smiling back, shuffling over to his side of the car.

"Sorry, I must look like a state," Kurt gave a strained laugh, gracefully wiping his eyes with his hand.

"Never apologise," Blaine replied, making Kurt look up in surprise at the seriousness of his voice. He nodded once before sniffing one last time.

"There they are," Kurt said, nodding out the window. Blaine turned and sure enough, Finn and Burt were nearing the car. Burt looked furious and Finn still looked sheepish.

They got into the car in silence as Blaine surveyed their movements. He heard Burt sigh, identical to that of Kurt's a moment earlier.

"We can reschedule this if you want. I can see it's not the best of-"

"No," Burt cut Blaine off loudly, turning around to face him, "We said we'd take you out for dinner, so we will," he finished, turning back around and starting the engine.

The drive to a restaurant that was supposedly called Breadstix (Blaine had never been) was unnaturally awkward and tense – no one spoke a word. The only sound that cut the silence was the radio – an endless stream of happy songs that portrayed the opposite mood of what existed in the enclosed surroundings that they were in.

Finally, 20 minutes later, they reached Breadstix and Blaine hopped out of the car in relief. He really thought that the Hummels should just go home instead of taking him out to eat – it was clear they had a lot of stuff to talk about. He just felt like an intruder.

He walked through the doors side by side with Kurt, whose eyes were much less puffy than before.

"I'm sorry about this," he apologised, giving him a wry smile.

"Didn't I tell you not to apologise?" Blaine said, bumping their shoulders together. Kurt smiled properly this time, ducking his head.

"Table for 4?" the waitress asked, smiling way too widely to be natural. Burt confirmed by nodding his head, all four of them following the waitress to their table. She walked away when they were all sat down and had taken a note of what drinks they wanted, promising to come back to take their orders and give them their drinks soon.

Burt sat for a moment, eyes flickering between Kurt and Blaine who were sitting beside each other opposite him. Blaine glanced at Kurt quickly, seeing the distress in his eyes as his dad examined him. His nervousness towards physical contact with Kurt had almost – surprisingly - faded very quickly. He had no idea why – he had never really had a friend that he could do these things with before – but it was becoming a fairly natural thing. This was his reasoning for reaching out under the table and linking their hands together firmly so that no one else could see. He tried to act natural as Kurt jumped a bit, but remained composed. Both made a silent agreement, for some reason, that Burt and Finn shouldn't see their linked hands.

"Right, I refuse to let this be awkward. We're a family, this is just stupid," Burt spoke up, rubbing his hands together. Blaine gave a little jolt at the word 'family' and peered up at Burt in wonder. He really thought of Blaine as part of his family?

"So, Blaine. How was your week? Anything interesting happen?" Burt asked, staring at Blaine directly, Finn and Kurt automatically turning towards Blaine too. He felt Kurt squeeze his hand softly.

"It was okay, I suppose. I got 100% in my physics test," he offered, not really knowing what else to say.

"Seriously? Dude, you have to tutor me when you come live with us. I suck so bad at it. Hey, Puck could come too. He's even worse than me."

Blaine stared at him blankly, mouth hanging open slightly. _When _he came to live with them?

"Wh…what?" he asked, eyes flitting from Burt to Finn. What did he mean by that?

"Oops…" Finn said, finally realising what he had done. He looked at Burt's angry expression once before making a decision, "I'm just gonna, um, go to the bathroom," and with that, he shot up off the chair and practically ran to the bathroom. Burt glared at his back as he went.

Kurt's grip on his hand had tightened and he cleared his throat once, Blaine glancing at him in confusion.

"Blaine, he…he wasn't supposed to say that," Burt said, elbow resting on the table and forehead resting on his hand.

"So…what does that mean then? That it won't happen, or…? I'm confused," he finished truthfully, frowning and sitting back in his seat. He didn't let Kurt's hand go.

"Honestly? It's up to you. We've all talked about it, and we're all up for it. The proper background checks and whatnot have been done on us and…we wanted to wait for another couple of weeks or even months to ask you. But I suppose it's all up to you," he said tiredly. Blaine could only frown at him, thinking deeply.

He couldn't get over the fact that the Hummels actually _wanted _to adopt him. Permanently. It was something he had never even dared to dream of and now it was all up to him and…he couldn't understand. But without a doubt, he knew his answer.

"O-okay," he said timidly, grip once again tightening on Kurt's hand. He could hear the boy beside him give a soft gasp.

"Okay?" Burt questioned, leaning towards him slightly.

"I'll…if you want to, I would like that. I'd really like that," he managed to choke out, head turning to give a shocked Kurt a small smile.

"Blaine, you really have to think about this. It can't be a decision made on the spur of the moment – it's too big."

"No, I know. But I've always wanted to come live with you. I mean, I-" he cut himself off, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm not making any sense."

Burt smiled at him softly, "Just give yourself some time to think about it, okay? There's no pressure on you to say one thing or the other – all we want is for you to be happy. Just take as much time as you need."

"I will. Thank you," Blaine replied, before thinking for a moment. "What would happen if I said yes? As in, the process?"

Burt took a deep breath, leaning back in his seat. Before he could start talking, however, the waitress returned to ask them what they wanted. Burt answered for himself and Finn, and Blaine just asked for what Kurt said.

When the waitress was gone, he continued. "Well, first of all, you'd come stay at our house for a weekend or two. Then it would increase to a week, introducing you to McKinley as well, providing you wanted to transfer there. Then they would let you stay for a month, before you made a final decision on whether you're happy staying. Obviously, at anytime you can ask to leave. But after that month the papers will be signed and…we'd take it from there. It would be a steady process that you would be entirely in control of. Just keep that in mind, buddy. Okay?"

"Okay," Blaine smiled far too widely, tilting his head down to mask the grin that was spreading across his face. For the first time, he believed that this could really happen. He might get out of that stupid home. Finally.

"Am I okay to sit down?" Finn was standing beside the table again, eyes warily trying to work out the emotions of everyone at the table.

"Yes, Finn," Burt said wearily, motioning for his deranged step son to sit down.

"Blaine said yes! Kind of," Kurt couldn't help but squeal out, face lighting up in a grin.

"Seriously? Awesome!" Finn flopped down with a huge smile on his face. "It's gonna be so cool having you as a brother, Blaine," he said excitedly.

"Right?" Kurt almost shouted over-excitedly, accidentally raising Blaine and his linked hands up and down – flailing was natural to him. Unfortunately, he raised them above the table, right into Burt and Finn's line of site.

He stopped smiling immediately, Blaine turning to him with a concerned look on his face. Kurt shot him a panicked face before unlinking their hands and clearing his throat. They both tried to ignore the two confused looks they were getting from across the table.

"Look! Food!" Blaine shouted, trying to distract them all.

Blaine and Kurt didn't know why they should hide the fact that they held hands from everyone. Without saying anything to each other, they knew that other people wouldn't understand. They might someday be brothers and some people might take it as romantic instead of platonic.

But now Kurt would have to somehow explain the situation, the reliance and the support, to his dad. And Martha would find out and her view of Blaine would be reinforced even more and…it wasn't going to be good.

But the loss of contact hit them both hard. All they wanted to do was grab each other's hand again and stay that way.

The rest of the meal passed with another tense silence that was occasionally broken by interjections of comments now and then.

As Burt paid the still smiling waitress, Kurt leaned over to whisper in Blaine's ear.

"You don't think it would be okay for me to come over after this, do you? I just really don't want to have the conversation with my dad and…please?"

"Sure," Blaine whispered back, smiling at him softly. Kurt accidentally brushed his nose against Blaine's cheek as he pulled back and they both blushed, ducking their

heads down shyly.

Blaine groaned internally. What was happening to him?

**It would mean the world if you could review! I shouldn't be too long with the next chapter. Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Greetings, good sirs! The usual thank yous to everyone again, you have no idea how much I appreciate the reviews and whatnot. If I could bake you all cookies, I would. Except I'd be scared that I'd poison you all, so I won't do that! Time for Kurt to visit Blaine's home properly! Not much happening in this chapter, I'm afraid.**

**Fanfiction was being a bum and this was originally posted last night, but I'm pretty sure no story alerts and stuff were sent. So I took it down this morning and reposted tonight. So if you're pretty sure you've seen this before, it's because you have! **

Blaine and the Hummels went straight to the car after Burt had paid, each one of them really just wanting to get home and relax after the ordeal of the day and the many revelations. Blaine could also tell that Burt was impatient to talk to his son about Karofsky and possibly (but Blaine was hoping not) about Kurt's relationship with Blaine himself.

Not that there was anything more that friendship.

The thought hadn't even crossed Blaine's mind.

Nope. That was wrong on multiple levels.

Because of this, Blaine knew that Kurt's proposition of staying with Blaine for a couple of hours more would not go down well.

They were settled into the car and Finn was having an animated conversation with Burt about the last Buckeye game when Blaine noticed Kurt staring at him. He had been looking out the window, but suddenly he felt that universal feeling of someone's eyes on him. He turned slowly, eyebrows raised as he caught Kurt's blue-eyed gaze. The boy across from him immediately looked away, a soft blush creeping up his pale neck.

This just confused Blaine even more.

"Dad?" Kurt cleared his throat when his voice came out rough, blush only darkening as his eyes flickered to Blaine for the last time.

"Yup?" Burt answered, looking at his son through the rear view mirror.

"Would it be okay for me to, um, stay at Blaine's for a while?"

Blaine looked at Burt, whose jaw tensed immediately when Kurt stopped talking, and then to Kurt who was now beetroot red. What did he have to be so embarrassed about?

"Why?" Burt answered bluntly, hands gripping at the wheel tighter than they had been before.

"Uh…because he promised me he'd give me a tour of the house," Blaine's eyebrows rose at Kurt's blatant lie, but suddenly Kurt was looking at him for his approval.

"Yeah, I did," Blaine added. He hated lying to the man who had done so much for him, but he also really wanted to spend more time with Kurt. And if this was the only way he could do that, then…

"I don't know, Kurt. I really need to talk to you about…" Burt sighed deeply, shaking his head. "Fine, but I'll come and get you at 9. Okay?"

"I can just wal-"

"I'll be here at 9. You two have fun," he forced; his tone clearly showing his annoyance. Blaine hadn't realised they were even near the home, but apparently they were now parked in the street outside it if Kurt's action of getting out the car was anything to go by.

He watched as the other boy said a quick thank you before rushing out the car and slamming the door behind him. Blaine sat there for a few seconds, mind jumbled.

"Oh, um, thank you for the dinner, Burt. It was very kind of you. I'm sorry it was at a bad time," he smiled slightly, brain finally able to make out some kind of sentence through his confusion.

"Not your fault, kid. See you soon?"

"Definitely. Bye!" With that, Blaine got out the car to a small 'bye' from Finn and he was then met with a scowling Kurt.

"Take your time, now!" Kurt teased as he slammed the door shut.

"Watch it, you. This is my house; I can kick you out anytime!" Blaine grinned, walking forward to lead the way into the home, all thoughts of his own confusion temporarily taken over by the excited squealing that was going on in his head about Kurt coming to his house out of his own accord.

"Mmm, but you would never. You like me too much." Kurt trotted along behind him to catch up, while Blaine grinned even wider.

"Sure I do," Blaine opened the door, the unexpected confidence that seemed to fill his veins when he and Kurt were on their own flowing freely. He gestured for Kurt to go in first with a bow of his head.

"How chivalrous of you!" Kurt nudged him lightly with his shoulder as he walked in. "I've never told you how much I like your house. It's gorgeous. And _huge."_ Kurt was staring up at the high ceilings in wonder, as if he hadn't seen them a hundred times before.

"Mmm. I don't envy the cleaners, though," Blaine had never really stopped to admire the house in all its glory; it was his _home. _He had lived there for 7 years and frankly, he didn't like it at all. "I just want to get out of here, honestly."

He could feel Kurt's eyes on him as he surveyed the large entrance hall, trying to see what everyone else saw in it and not the cursed walls he had to look at every day.

He couldn't.

"You really hate it that much, huh?" Kurt questioned, sitting down on the seat he had occupied just a few hours before. Blaine only gave him a tight smile in response.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous noise of someone careering down the hall towards them. Kurt turned in surprise, not used to the normal level of noise in the home, whereas Blaine just watched, unamused, as a boy of about 8 came screeching around the corner.

"Where's Martha?" he shouted at them, a frown covering his young face. A book was unceremoniously clutched in his hand, only one page clasped in his fingers so that Blaine worried about the safety of the object.

"I don't know, Matthew. What did you want her for?" Blaine asked the small boy. He didn't know much about Matthew, only that he had moved here almost a year ago. He was one of the boys he often helped out with, as he was the youngest in the house.

"She said she'd read to me, but then the twins came and dragged her away…" His eyes looked sad and Blaine saw Kurt's face fall.

"Well, we could read to you if you want!" Kurt said cheerily, glancing at Blaine to see if this sudden change of plan was okay. Blaine had to stop himself from groaning – he really just wanted to sit in his room and talk to Kurt. Why did the boy have to be so damn nice to everyone?

"Really? Yes, please!" The boy came rushing up to Kurt, taking his larger hand in his own. "What's your name?"

Kurt smiled the widest smile known to man down at him, "Kurt. Yours is Matthew, yeah?"

"Yeah. That's a pretty name. Kurrrrtt," he rolled the new word around in his mouth, trying it out. Blaine knew full well that Matthew acted young for his age; he supposed that that was a side effect from the ordeal that he had undoubtedly been put through. "Come on, Kurt!" He began to pull Kurt through the hall and down to the living room, Blaine following behind with his hands in his pockets.

He was getting upstaged by an 8 year old. Excellent.

When Blaine finally made it to the living room (as he was trailing behind a bit, acting petulant), Matthew and Kurt were already sitting on the couch with the book open on Kurt's knee.

"There he is!" Kurt smiled up at him as he walked through the doorway. Blaine smiled at him in response, flopping down on the sofa opposite them. Kurt pouted at him.

"Does Blaine not want to read the story, too?" Blaine met Matthew's bright eyes for a second and then Kurt's matching ones, before he began to chuckle. Kurt looked identical to Matthew, with an ethereal glow coming from both their smiling faces.

"What one is it?" Kurt held the book up so Blaine could see, "Ah, I'm afraid I've already read that one, let's see," he mimed counting on his fingers, "way too many times to be considered healthy."

Kurt pouted at him again, looking back down at Matthew. "Look who's a spoil sport, huh? We can just read it without him, can't we?"

Blaine sat watching Kurt and Matthew read together for the next 20 minutes, studying both their faces (mostly Kurt's) in awe. They both looked so happy to be doing the activity that Blaine usually despised, having done it so many times. Kurt was showing a childish, playful side of himself that Blaine had rarely seen.

It just made him like him that little bit more.

"The end!" Kurt shouted as he flipped the final page over, snapping Blaine out of his reverie.

"Thank you, Kurt!" Matthew said when Kurt got up.

"It's no problem, sweetie," Kurt smiled in response before looking at Blaine expectantly.

"Should we go somewhere else, or will I start another book?"

Blaine looked at him for a few seconds before realising what he was saying, "Oh, um, sure. My room?"

"Sure," Kurt said, following behind Blaine as he began to make his way to the stairs that led up to his room. "I'm curious to see the enigmatic Blaine's room. Very intriguing." Blaine couldn't help but smile at Kurt's continuing playful nature, deciding that he would go along with it.

"This isn't my real room. The other one has too many secrets to uncover in it. Couldn't let you in there." Kurt hummed in response as Blaine took the stairs two at a time, before running across the corridor and stopping outside his room.

"The other one, would that be in the basement or the attic?" Kurt said as he eventually reached Blaine's door. Blaine opened it for him like he did when they entered the house, bowing as he did so.

"That depends on my mood," Kurt laughed as he walked in, and Blaine watched him as he took in his surroundings.

Blaine knew his room was boring, but it was too difficult to try and decorate to three people's tastes, especially when everyone came and went so quickly. The walls were a pale, baby blue and the carpet was just a shade darker. There were three beds, each with a chest of drawers directly beside them. Each bed also had a desk sitting at the end of them. One wardrobe sat in the corner of the room of which they shared, and immediately beside it was a window that looked onto the garden and street below.

"It's not very…you," Kurt announced, frowning as he swivelled his body to look right round the room.

"Yeah, well… I didn't really imagine myself staying here for 7 years. It was supposed to just be my temporary home. I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to decorate it because it felt like…like I was stuck here forever, if I did that." Kurt frowned at this, and Blaine saw a hint of regret in his eyes.

"You won't be here forever." Kurt stated, smiling at him and Blaine gave a tentative one back. "So which is your bed?"

"That one," Blaine pointed to the one nearest Kurt. He immediately sat down on it as Blaine watched him curiously.

"Did you have any idea of what we could do when you invited yourself here? Want a tour?" Blaine teased, walking over and sitting beside Kurt.

"Sorry about that, I just couldn't have the conversation with my dad yet. But no, I didn't."

Blaine paused for a minute, thinking. "Will your dad mention the…um, us holding hands?" his voice came out strained and he suddenly felt really awkward.

"Well, I hope not. But probably, yeah. I guess I'll just tell him the truth."

"Which is?" Blaine was genuinely interested in his answer – he didn't really know how he himself would answer that question if asked it.

Kurt shrugged, turning his head around to face Blaine, "That we're close friends, I suppose."

Blaine couldn't stop the grin that spread onto his face in response.

"Oh, what was Martha talking to Burt about before I came thundering in, by the way?" Kurt smiled a little at the memory.

"You were very graceful. A couple of things, to be honest. Uh…he was telling her about the Karofsky incident and asking if Sam had seen anything. It was also, uh, about the adopting thing, as well. Just discussing it with her, I suppose."

Blaine nodded absently to himself. "Do you wanna talk about it? The Karofsky thing?"

"God, no. I'd rather just forget the whole thing ever happened, to be honest. But thank you," Kurt smiled _that _smile at him and Blaine's insides involuntarily flipped. Damn them. "How about you? How did school go this week?"

Blaine waved off his questions, "Can we just pretend we're normal friends hanging out without the depression?" He smiled softly at Kurt, who conceded immediately. "Hello, normal friend. What do you want to do then, good sir?" Blaine asked again, bouncing slightly on the bed.

"We could play 20 questions? I still don't really know much about you, even after all this time."

Blaine's face lit up. He had always wanted to play this game with someone but he had never had the chance. But now he had Kurt, and things had changed.

"Sure! I guess most of the stuff we talk about is bullying related. Well, now it is anyway."

Kurt nodded in approval, shuffling backwards on the bed and leaning against the wall. He patted the space beside him, so Blaine moved back, too. They sat for a minute in silence, shoulders pressed together.

"Me first, then?" Blaine asked, eyes sparkling with mischief. Kurt must have realised this, as he grimaced.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" It was more of a statement than a question, so Blaine just grinned in return.

"Favourite childhood toy?" Blaine asked, eliciting an immediate groan from Kurt.

"Anything but that question! Please!" Blaine moved his face closer to Kurt's to tease him.

"Nuh uh! You have to answer!" Kurt nudged him away playfully.

"You're awful, you know that? Fine, it was a unicorn. A little, white unicorn with a multi-coloured mane." Blaine was trying not to laugh, but he just didn't have the self restraint.

"That's adorable! What was its name?" Kurt grumbled an unintelligible response.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Rapunzel, okay?" Kurt shouted, and Blaine laughed even harder, clutching at his stomach.

"Was her mane silky and long?" Kurt grabbed a pillow and shoved it in Blaine's grinning face.

"It was, actually. I guess she kind of hinted to my parents that I was gay, so she helped for something. Anyway, my turn! Favourite book?" Blaine recovered himself a moment later, tears slightly stinging at his eyes. He manoeuvred himself back into a sitting position, accidentally leaning more into Kurt but not moving away again. He didn't really think too deeply about Kurt's passing comment about being gay; he just noticed how comfortable he was with saying it. Something that Blaine wished _he_ could do, too.

"Um…Harry Potter," he answered simply. Kurt nodded in approval.

"Fair enough, I suppose."

"Best friend?" Blaine asked, crossing his legs and relaxing more. He felt and heard Kurt give out a long sigh, thinking about the question deeply, apparently.

"I don't really know. I used to think it was Mercedes but…with the bullying, no one else really _gets _it. It's like it puts yet another wall around me, distancing me even more from everyone. Maybe… maybe y-" Kurt cut himself off, glancing at Blaine quickly.

"Huh? You can tell me, Kurt," Blaine tried to reassure, smiling softly at him.

"No, you'll think I'm stupid."

"I could never think that," Blaine answered truthfully. Kurt sighed yet again, shoulders straightening and eyes closing.

"I don't know. I feel like… like you're the only person who understands. You're the one I can trust but we still have fun and…I don't know, Blaine."

"I think that, too," Blaine immediately answered, causing Kurt to open his eyes and turn to look at him. "Sounds really cheesy, though, doesn't it? Best friend." Kurt smiled slightly.

"Yeah, it does. Oh well, I guess it shouldn't really matter, right?" Blaine hummed in agreement, laying his head back on the wall. He tried to ignore the fireworks going off inside him at basically being called Kurt's best friend.

"Favourite thing to do?" Kurt asked a moment later, returning to their game.

"Sing, maybe. Not sure, I don't do much."

"I'd love to hear you one day," Kurt said. Blaine only smiled. Just now, he was too nervous to let anyone hear him sing – he would only do it in the privacy of his bedroom when his roommates were gone. Maybe one day, though, he could join Kurt's Glee club.

"Favourite childhood memory?" Blaine asked Kurt, closing his eyes in contentment. Being with Kurt and finally being able to act like a normal teenager made him so happy. This was all he had ever wanted, and it was even better than he had imagined.

Kurt hummed, "Probably baking with my mum. We used to try out a different recipe from her little book of cupcakes each week; it's the thing I looked forward to doing most. I'd wake her up way too early to be considered normal on a Saturday morning, then we'd go down into the kitchen and make them in our pyjamas. Once they were ready, we would go wake my dad up and bring one to him and…yeah. I loved it."

Blaine sensed the hint of sadness in Kurt's tone as he talked about his mother. And, because it was their _thing_ now, he placed his hand on top of Kurt's where it lay on the bed. Kurt gave him a grateful smile, eyes soft and shining. They really were the most beautiful shade of blue.

"Okay, um…favourite celebrity?" Kurt asked a moment later, snapping Blaine out of his daze. He really needed to stop doing that; he would get caught out sometime.

He debated his answer for a few seconds, wondering if he should answer with the truth or not. If he said a guy…would that hint to Kurt that he was gay?

_Or maybe you're just panicking, like normal. This is Kurt, not some bully._

"Matt Bomer," he answered truthfully, watching Kurt's face light up. "You like him, too?" Blaine asked.

"That I do. He's rather attractive," Blaine looked down at his lap as Kurt said this, wishing he could speak up and agree. All he had to say was _yeah, he is, _but he couldn't…could he? It sounded so simple, so easy when he said it in his head. Three stupid words. Blaine could almost feel the walls he had built gradually crumble, watching as the remains of them piled up at his feet.

But still, he couldn't say it. It just wouldn't come out; as if something was stuck in his throat preventing him from saying what he actually wanted to.

Because suddenly, a small part of him wanted to tell Kurt, wanted the bright blue eyed boy to know everything about him – the bad and the good.

But it was still too new, so he only managed to make a strangled humming sound in response.

"Sorry. Tone down the gay, huh?" Kurt answered, evidently taking Blaine's noise as disapproval. Blaine looked at him in horror.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," he said frantically, clutching Kurt's hand. "Definitely not what I meant…" he said, almost to himself, voice coming out in a whisper.

"Oh…well, I'm glad," Kurt gave him a small smile, eyes flickering to their hands again. Blaine didn't want to let go, so he didn't. "You don't have any problem with it? With…this," he moved their linked hands slightly to indicate them, "and me being gay?"

Blaine stared at him in shock, mouth opening and closing like a fish. He couldn't tell Kurt how much he loved holding his hand; how much strength he got from such a simple action. How special it was to him.

How maybe his untameable mind wished it meant something more.

"Of course not, Kurt. It's not even…it's not in the slightest bit of an…issue. Please don't ever think that."

"Okay," Kurt said simply, smiling softly to himself. "Can I ask a question?"

Blaine looked at him in surprise, the corner of his lips tugging up, "Isn't that what we've been doing for the past hour?" Kurt rolled his eyes at him.

"Yes, fine, but this is…" he stopped for a second, looking across the room at the bare walls. "How did you become so…accepting? Most people our age despise gay people like we're…a disease, or something. But you're not like that."

Blaine felt his heart skip a beat. How the hell was he supposed to answer that? He couldn't exactly say 'because I'm gay". Well, he could, in theory. But he still couldn't get it out, no matter if part of him wanted to.

"Well, I…I don't know. Instinct, I suppose," he said, not looking at Kurt in fear of drowning in his eyes again.

"Instinct?" Kurt questioned, eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah. I…prejudice is just ignorance. I don't think anyone should be hated for being themself. I mean, it's not like w-" he cleared his throat. He had almost said we. Almost. "you can help it. I'm sorry, that wasn't very eloquent of me." He didn't know if Kurt had picked up on his slip, but he refused to look at him to find out. He didn't see Kurt's frown deepen for a second.

"I guess. I'm glad you…understand."

"No problem," Blaine managed to force a smile, insistent mind reading into the fact that Kurt had paused before saying understand. Why did he have to overanalyse everything?

They sat in silence for a few minutes, hands still clasped tightly together. Suddenly, Blaine's door was flung open and a flustered Martha paraded in, face flushed.

"Blaine! Could you mayb- Oh, hi Kurt!" She aimed a wide smile at the boy sitting tightly beside Blaine on the bed. Her eyes flickered between the two boys and then to their linked hands, and her smile only widened even more. "I was going to ask you to help with getting the little ones to bed, but I guess it doesn't matter since Kurt's here."

"No!" Kurt interjected, looking at Blaine with raised eyebrows, "We can help, can't we?" Blaine looked at him in shock. Again with the over-niceness! The only reason Blaine let out a reluctant sigh and a nod of his head was the warm hand clasped in his. That and the puppy dog eyes he was being given.

That boy had the act of persuasion down to a T.

For the next hour, Blaine and Kurt sat with the three youngest boys, Matthew included, and read them a story that Blaine was sure he had read at least 100 times already.

Though, as he slyly watched Kurt as he mimicked different voices, he supposed it wasn't too bad. Anything activity, no matter how boring, involving Kurt was becoming tolerable.

This both scared the hell out of him and made him the happiest he had ever been.

"Your dad's outside, Kurt," Martha poked her head around the door and whispered, smiling as she saw Blaine and Kurt both reclining on the bed next to the smaller boys. They were all nearly asleep.

Kurt nodded gently, sloppily rolling off the bed as Blaine did the same. They closed the door softly behind them as Martha began to rouse the children enough to get them into their own beds.

"You ready for that talk with your dad?" Blaine asked as they reached the door. Kurt groaned, head falling in defeat as he remembered. "That'll be a resounding no," Blaine joked. "He needs to know, Kurt. I know you don't want to talk about Karofsky, but something needs to be done about him."

Kurt met his tired eyes. "I know. It's just going to be…hard. To relive it. It was so… urgh."

Blaine brought Kurt into a hug, strong arms wrapping around his shoulders. He felt Kurt's arms curl around his waist and he sighed softly with contentment.

"I'm so sorry," Blaine whispered, squeezing his eyes shut, long lashes fanning out on his cheeks.

"Don't apologise. It'll be fine. _I'll _be fine," he smiled softly into Blaine's shirt.

Kurt pulled back a few moments later with a reassuring smile. "Text me to tell me how it goes?" Blaine asked of him.

"Of course." He paused, eyes raking down Blaine's body to Blaine's utter embarrassment.

"What're you doi- " Blaine started to ask before he was cut off.

"I like your shirt. But we need to get you some decent shoes at some point, those are atrocious." Blaine stared down at his battered trainers with a frown.

"Hey, they're not_ that _bad!" Kurt just laughed, grabbing Blaine's hand and squeezing it quickly before opening the door.

"See you later, Blaine," Blaine watched him as he walked down the path, the setting sun casting an orange glow over him and the rest of the world.

"See you, Kurt."

**I'm sorry for the lack of content in this, but I'd really love to hear your thoughts on it! The next chapter should be up this weekend!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So. I'm off on holiday on Monday and I won't be back for two weeks, so there definitely won't be any updates until then. I'm really sorry, and I hope you can all forgive me. This is just a short chapter before I leave, so I hope you enjoy it!**

The moment Burt's car had faded from view and he had to finally stop waving, Blaine sprinted back up to his room, collapsing on his bed with a wide grin.

He felt like how he thought a teenager would after their first date.

The only problem was, he had to work to remind himself that that was not a date. That Kurt was his maybe-soon-to-be-_brother._

But Kurt had basically called him his best friend, and that was something to be ecstatic about in itself. _Best friend._ Blaine had a best friend.

He brought his hands up to his face, resting them on his forehead and grinning even wider. If you took away the whole Karofsky incident revelation and hand holding slip up, the night had been perfect. It had left Blaine with soaring spirits and a sudden need to dance around his room.

But his brain was still trying to ignore that this was highly inappropriate. That _he _was being highly inappropriate. That number one, Kurt had no idea (or maybe he did after his stupid slip up) that he was gay and number two, it's not like the thought of them being together was plausible. Some might even say it was _wrong. BROTHERS, damnit!_

And hey, he could add another reason to that list: Blaine just might like his _best friend_ just a little bit more than the title placed on them.

So, yes, partly, this was a complete mess. But that didn't stop Blaine from feeling like he was on top of the world.

"Blaine?" He heard a soft voice to his right, turning his head to see Martha edging into his room and shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

"Hey, Martha," he said, trying to contain his grin so he wouldn't freak her out.

"Thanks for helping out tonight. I know it probably spoiled your night with Kurt, but I really-"

"No," Blaine interrupted, "it didn't spoil the night at all. We were happy to help." Martha smiled at him in response, seeming to think for a minute before coming to sit on Blaine's bed beside his lying figure.

"You looked really happy with Kurt. I've never seen you that happy before."

And then, Blaine knew why Martha was in his room. Apparently, her curiosity had won out over her patience. Blaine had been right before: she had been waiting for him to come and talk to her about Kurt and his sexuality. Since that had never happened, she was going to try to nudge him to talk about it.

Excellent.

Thinking about it before he answered Martha, could he really tell her? Would he let himself when he couldn't even tell Kurt? Martha was like a mother to him, but…would he be able to say it?

"He's really great," he answered simply, thinking that that was a bit of an understatement.

"Yeah, he is. The poor thing's gone through so much… I feel so sorry for him. What with the bullying and… he doesn't deserve any of it." Martha's eyes suddenly grew sad.

"I know. It's not fair that he gets bullied for being himself." Martha looked at him curiously and Blaine shifted his gaze from her. He wondered if she was actually going to ask him straight out.

"No, it's not. Sam tells me that he gets slushied almost every day, slammed into lockers…the whole thing." Blaine neglected to tell her that half of that was true for himself, too. He didn't need her worrying about him as well. Instead, he hummed in agreement. "You two are very…" she paused, eyes glinting, "close. You seem to…help each other."

Blaine gave her a small smile, knowing exactly what she was doing. She was trying to make him say something more about it of his own accord.

He still didn't know if he could do it. He thought he might be able to…but he wasn't sure. He was so scared; his heart was racing.

"Yeah, we do." She seemed to deflate at his answer – if Blaine really was going to get the courage to say it, he was going to need a better opportunity to, one that didn't sound as if he just blurted it for no reason.

"Blaine," she paused for a second, as if she knew she was beginning to push her luck, "have you ever had a girlfri-"

Something in Blaine snapped, but not in a bad way. Confidence, and terror, pulsed through him. He could do this. _He could do this. _

"I know what you're trying to do." Martha froze, eyes locked on Blaine's. She had that deer in a headlight look about her and Blaine couldn't help but be slightly amused.

"What am I trying to do?" she asked him after a minute, head tilting to the side. Blaine almost smiled at her tactics.

"You're trying to make me say it."

"Say what, Blaine?" Her voice had lowered and was so soft; Blaine could barely hear it over the pounding of his heart. All the years of hiding were finally coming down to this moment…but he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell _Kurt. _Resolutely, now, there were no doubts. He wasn't ashamed of who he was; he was just scared of the repercussions of letting people_ know _who he was.

But Kurt and Martha were exceptions, because Blaine knew they could never judge him. So he took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"That I'm gay." He watched carefully, guarded, as Martha inhaled loudly, eyes widening into saucers. Blaine started to panic, then. She had said before that it was okay, back in the dining room with Sam, but what if she didn't actually mean that and she was just –

Suddenly, his face was buried in her maroon jumper and her arms were wrapped around his back. It took him a moment to reciprocate, but he managed to encircle her with his own arms.

"Thank you for trusting me," she whispered into his ear.

"Thank you for being trustworthy," Blaine said, feeling her chuckle slightly in his arms. She pulled back a moment later and rose from the bed, leaning down to place a soft kiss to Blaine's forehead.

"You're unique, Blaine. From the moment you walked in here 7 years ago, I knew that there was something about you that was just…_special, _I can't explain it. But don't forget that, okay?" Blaine's eyes filled up with tears because he hadn't been called special since he was a small child.

"Thank you," he managed to choke out, smiling at her. He was so lucky to have her, and he had only just realised it.

She nodded erratically, sniffing as tears filled her own eyes. "I'm always going to be here if you need anything, okay?" Blaine nodded to show that he understood before watching her walk out the room and shut the door. He guessed that Martha didn't ask anything about Kurt because she was just grateful of him telling her that he was gay. Of course, he was happy for this. That would have been too much to tell at one time, anyway, especially when he was extremely confused about his…_feelings _for Kurt.

He felt free, for the first time in his life. Martha had given him the confidence to think that maybe, one day, he would be able to tell everyone who he was. That maybe he had that strength somewhere inside him.

But first of all, he would tell Kurt. He felt this sudden, strange, almost _burning _need to tell him. It was peculiar to him, having the confidence to tell people. But he liked it.

He got up off the bed and walked over to his small desk, grabbing his phone from where it now permanently sat, waiting for Kurt to text or call him.

He reasoned with himself that no, calling Kurt and telling him at 10 at night when he would probably be talking to Burt (and oh God, this was going to make everything more awkward with the entire family, wasn't it?) wasn't a good idea. He decided to send him a short text instead, lying back down on the bed before he did so. If Kurt kept his promise and texted him as he said he would, he would just need to answer it in the morning – he was too tired to wait up for it.

_I hope it went okay with your dad. Thank you for everything :) – Blaine._

He realised that Kurt wouldn't know what _everything_ was. But he would. Soon.

**Again, I'm sorry to end it here for 2 weeks, and I hope you don't give up on the story. I'd really love to hear from you all about what you thought of this! Till next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am BACK and so is Temporary Home! I swear I'm going to start replying to the reviews I'm getting, but for all the past ones that I didn't, THANK YOU! You have no idea how much it means to me, no matter if it's long or short or whatever. It makes my day. So, as stated in the chapter, this occurs two weeks after we left Blaine coming out to Martha. It's a Friday. I really, really hope this progression doesn't seem to fast, and that you enjoy the new chapter! Oh, side note, Finn's always been nicey nice and not homophobic. The cuddle bear in my head was never like that. **

"Will you hurry up, Eyebrows!" Kurt glared at Blaine as he watched him spin around his room looking dazed.

"Hey! I thought you dropped that nickname? And I'm trying, okay? I get flustered easily," Blaine said as he went back to rummaging about in his drawers, throwing stuff into his small blue case that lay open on the floor, piled high with items.

"Uh huh. I can see that. You've known you were staying this weekend for a ages; why are you only packing now?" Kurt questioned, hands dramatically rising to his hips for effect.

"I was busy with stuff!" Blaine finally closed his drawers as much as he could as clothes were still hanging out of them. He hopped over to his case and flipped the lid up, groaning as the zip wouldn't completely close. "Come sit on it with me," he ordered Kurt, already perched on top of the straining suitcase and tugging the zip at the same time.

Kurt just looked at him in disbelief, watching as Blaine tried in vain to spread his weight out further.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Kurt moved to sit on the case next to Blaine, but he was only feigning the annoyance; he actually found Blaine's unorganized self endearing. God knows why.

"Nearly…there…" Blaine's voice strained as the zip finally completely closed and the suitcase gave a jolt. He sat up straight again with a satisfied grin. "Success is mine." Kurt rolled his eyes, trying to bite back a smile.

Blaine stood up and looked at Kurt in anticipation. "Come on! Up! What're you waiting for?" He laughed as Kurt aimed yet another glare his way while ungracefully getting up, tight jeans restraining his movements just a little. Blaine grabbed the suitcase and started wheeling it out the door, Kurt following behind with another sigh as he caught the heavy object on the doorframe.

It had been almost two weeks since Blaine had last seen Kurt; the day he had come out to Martha. The following Wednesday he had called the Hummels and informed them very clearly that yes, he was sure about the adoption and that they had his permission to get things rolling. It took a lot to get Burt to realise that he was sure of his decision, but once that long conversation was over, Burt had promised that he would start getting the paperwork ready. They hadn't visited him last weekend due to some hearing or meeting or whatever; Blaine wasn't sure and really wasn't that interested in the process of the whole thing. He just wanted to go live with them as soon as possible. He was done here.

He had really missed Kurt during the two weeks; for some reason they hadn't arranged to meet up during the missed weekend. Kurt still had yet to tell him about the conversation with Burt (he was going to pry that out of him tonight) and they both didn't know how each other's school weeks had gone bullying-wise or how the Karofsky situation had been handled.

On Monday, Blaine had been told by Martha that he could spend the weekend, unsupervised by any members of staff, at the Hummel's house. He had been shaking with excitement ever since, the only problem being that this and the job of looking after the small children and doing homework had made him forget the small issue of packing.

"You know, a little help would have been nice." Blaine had just managed to bump the suitcase down the staircase, cringing as it hit each step with a heavy thud.

"Call it punishment for not packing earlier." Kurt smiled slightly, following as they walked down the corridor towards the hall where his dad was waiting for them.

"I have to be _punished _for that? That's not-!"

"You can always tell when someone will fit into a household if they start arguing with the family members. Happened with Finn, too. I knew I'd made the right decision for Carole to move in when Finn and Kurt had their first heated argument. I think it was about America's Next Top Model, right?" They had finally reached the entrance hall and Burt's amused voice broke off their heated discussion. He was staring at them both with a smile on his face.

"It wasn't really-"

"We were just joking-"

They both spoke at the same time before stopping simultaneously, turning to look at each before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"You two are insane. Come on, get into the car or you'll miss dinner. Carole's made it especially for the occasion." He walked out the door, gesturing for them to follow him, Blaine's suitcase lugging behind. Kurt held the door open for Blaine to make up for not helping earlier and Blaine smiled sarcastically at him as he walked past him with his head held high, only for him to trip a second later.

"Karma!" Kurt trilled as he walked past Blaine again, face alight with a grin.

"What the hell have you got in there? You do know you're only staying for the weekend for now, right?" Burt stared incredulously at the size of Blaine's luggage as he hauled it up to the boot of the car, letting go of it before Burt placed it in.

"He wasn't even packed. Disgraceful. He might as well have just put his whole set of drawers in there, for the amount he-"

"Right!" Blaine cut them off as they sniggered. "You mock the suitcase, but at least I'm prepared." Kurt snorted from beside him.

"Oh yes, _prepared _is a great word to describe you, exactly what I wou-"

"Kurt!" Blaine shouted, elbowing him before climbing into the car.

The journey to the Hummel's house went much like this, the teasing and hidden smiles continuing as they mocked each other. Burt couldn't help but watch them curiously from the front seat. He couldn't believe he had found a child to adopt that got along with Kurt so well. From his own experience he knew that Kurt had walls that wouldn't crumble easily, yet this boy seemed to have knocked them down with one quick blow. He didn't know what it was about him, but there was something special. He was just glad that they had managed to find him.

30 minutes later and the three of them had arrived at the Hummel's house, Blaine following behind Kurt and Burt as they walked up the drive, the luggage that had caused so much teasing in the car dragging pathetically behind him.

Kurt looked back at him with a teasing grin on his face.

"Don't," Blaine warned as he opened his mouth to undoubtedly start teasingly mock him again. Kurt stopped and let Blaine catch up with him, grabbing the suitcase from him once he was close enough.

"Come on, we don't want to keep Carole waiting. Follow me." Blaine watched in surprise as Kurt started walking again, suitcase in tow. He followed him into the vaguely familiar house (he had only been here once or twice before) and up the stairs that were straight in front of them. They winded round to a large landing where five doors broke off, four of which Blaine knew were bedrooms, one a bathroom. Kurt made his way into the one on their immediate right – the only one Blaine hadn't been in yet, although he knew it was a bedroom.

As they walked in, the size was the first thing to hit Blaine. Not that it was a particularly big room, but it _seemed _massive compared to Blaine's one at home. It was probably because there was only one set of furniture as it was for one person instead of three.

The room contained a big double bed with cream sheets to match the cream walls. There was a bedside table, a wardrobe, a set of drawers, a desk with a chair, and even a sofa. The whole room was shades of cream and brown and Blaine thought everything was beautiful.

"Is this my room?" he asked timidly as Kurt set the suitcase down next to the wardrobe.

"Yeah. Is it okay? We could always swap rooms for now if you don't like it."

"No! God, no. It's perfect. Remind me to tell Carole that she has some awesome interior design skills?" Blaine stepped forward and ran his hand over the soft sheets on the huge bed that he wasn't used to. He paused for a minute before belly flopping onto it, a large, contended grin spreading over his face as he wriggled into the covers.

"It was actually, um, me who designed it." Blaine stopped wriggling and turned his head back towards Kurt. He vaguely heard Carole shout out to them that dinner was ready from down the stairs.

"Seriously? You didn't tell me that. It's really, truly gorgeous. I adore it." Blaine smiled at him as he pried himself from the soft sheets, stretching when he stood up. "I think I heard Carole call us. Shall we go eat?" He offered his arm out to Kurt and Kurt took it, smiling softly.

"That we shall." They made their way out the room and back down the stairs, Kurt letting go of Blaine's arm before they reached the dining room. "The good thing is that your room is directly opposite mine!" Kurt joked as they sat down together at the table. They were the first ones there.

"I'm thrilled!" Blaine teased, watching as Carole rounded the corner with a steaming plate in her hands. His mouth watered from just the sight of it.

"Blaine! Hello, darling, it's really good to see you again," she said, a genuine smile plastered onto her face.

"Hey, Carole. You too! This looks lovely." He gestured to the plate that was now in the middle of the table.

"Thank you, sweetie!" She disappeared round the corner again and Blaine looked at Kurt for confirmation that he could dive into the food, but Kurt shook his head. Blaine frowned at him, confused, until he saw Carole rush around the corner again with more plates in hand loaded with vegetables and potatoes. Blaine gaped as more food was put down.

"Seriously?" he asked. This was the complete opposite of the simple food made for him back at the home. It was like he was in another _world, _where he didn't have to share everything and get small portions of stuff and it was just _so damn good. _

Burt came in and sat opposite Blaine, watching him with amused eyes. "Don't get this at the home?"

"Not even close," Blaine said, a grin settling on his face. He didn't want to make himself out like a pig but he just wanted to eat _everything_ on the table.

"Hey, man!" Finn shouted, careering into the dining room while the sound of the front door slamming still reverberated through the house. "Sorry I'm late," he sheepishly said to Burt and Carole before sitting opposite Kurt and grabbing a piece of bread. "What's up? We haven't seen you in forever!"

Blaine was taken back by his enthusiasm. "Hey! Um, not much. You?"

"Ah, nothing special." He stuffed the bread into his mouth hungrily, dopey smile somehow staying on his face.

"How's Rachel?" Carole asked, sitting down at the head of the table and beginning to take food for herself, prompting everybody else to follow her lead.

"Good! I think," Finn said between bites.

"Wait, I thought you and her were on a break?" Blaine asked while filling his own plate. Finn stared at him blankly. "You said that you were at the Circus. Remember?"

Finn continued to look confused for a second before recognition filled his face. "Oh! Nah, that only lasted a week." He went back to his food and the rest of the table made no comment, the soft clinks of cutlery scraping off plates the only sound.

Personally, Blaine didn't get the average teenage couple. The way they couldn't seem to stay together for a few weeks before they broke up and then got back together again then broke up… it was a stupid cycle that he just didn't understand. Surely, if you love someone, you wouldn't be stupid enough to break up for a _week._

But maybe that was the problem. They just didn't have the connection between one another that he thought you should have before going into a relationship. Like he and Kurt did.

He slapped himself internally, shoving food roughly into his mouth before remembering where he was. _Bad thoughts, Blaine. Bad thoughts._

"We're getting there with the adoption papers, by the way." Burt said, breaking the silence. Blaine's face lit up again.

"Really? That's great!" Burt smiled at him.

"There are a few more checks to do on us and meetings to attend, but after that we should be nearly there. There's that week-long visit to have first, too."

"Of course," Blaine said between mouthfuls. "I can't wait."

The rest of the meal, including the most delicious chocolate fudge cake he had ever tasted, went by with amusing small talk for the most part. Stories from Glee club were shared and Burt and Carole told them funny stories of people at the garage and at the hospital. Due to the fact that Carole worked at a _hospital, _Burt told the majority of they stories. Blaine offered to clear the table but Burt refused, telling him it was his own turn to do it.

Kurt asked Blaine if he wanted to go up to his room for a while, and Blaine agreed willingly. As they entered Kurt's room (which was even nicer that Blaine's, impossibly) Blaine took a deep breath.

He was going to tell Kurt. Tonight.

He had made his decision at dinner that he was going to come out to Kurt, and he refused to go back on it. He needed there to be no secrets between them. He needed someone to know everything about him. He needed _Kurt._

Naturally, he was nervous, and his palms immediately began to sweat.

He watched as Kurt shut the door behind him, shutting out the video game noises coming from Finn's room. He sat down on his double bed, legs crossed, and motioned for Blaine to join him. He took a deep breath and sat down, willing himself to act as normal as possible.

"You still need to tell me about that talk with your dad." Blaine said, shuffling a bit closer so that their knees were touching. Kurt flushed immediately, eyes darting to their knees.

"Yeah, that was awkward. I managed to tell him all about the Karofsky…situation without breaking down, but it was hard. I hated having to relive it. But I did it and it was sort of worth it, I suppose."

Blaine stayed silent for a minute, trying to catch Kurt's eye. "Did he ask about…the holding hands?" he said quietly. Kurt looked up and smiled softly at him.

"He didn't, no. But I could just _see _it in his eyes; he wanted to. I don't know why he didn't. It confused me, he's normally so straight with stuff like that."

Blaine chuckled slightly to himself at the mention of 'straight' and Kurt looked confused for a moment before laughing a bit, too. His eyes were trying to deduce Blaine, though, but he didn't notice.

"What about Karofsky? What happened to him?" Kurt sighed softly, shaking his head.

"He was suspended for 2 weeks."

"What? Only 2 weeks? But Kurt, what he did to you was disgusting!" Blaine was horrified. How could this have happened?

"No proof? I don't even know, Blaine. All I know is that it did and that he'll be back. There's nothing I can do about it." Blaine's face crumpled as he watched Kurt summon a strong smile for him. He immediately uncrossed his knees and gathered him into a hug, as he seemed to always do at times like this. Kurt melted into his body immediately, holding on to him as tightly as he could. "I wish he would just leave me alone. Just for a while."

Blaine's heart broke. This was so _unfair. _Why did Kurt have to go through this? He was the sweetest, most compassionate boy he had ever met. Why did they care if he liked boys? It made no difference to them.

"I wish I could take you away from him." Kurt pulled away from him slightly, smiling at him.

"You're too sweet, you know that?" Blaine ducked his head down, partly from embarrassment and partly because he was going to drown in Kurt's eyes. Again.

"Any nice person would think the same as me."

"You would be surprised," Kurt smiled sadly before moving back completely, rocking back on his heels and linking a hand with Blaine's and squeezing.

"Do you mind if I do my moisturising routine while you're here? If I leave it till you're gone, it'll be ages before I get to bed."

"Sure," Blaine replied with yet another smile as Kurt let go and got up to move to his dressing table where he kept all his various products.

Blaine lay down sideways on Kurt's bed, facing where Kurt had already started uncapping bottles. He tried to watch him slyly as he spread white cream on his face before washing it off, then spreading one on that came out clear on his skin after he had rubbed it in. Blaine lost track after that; there were so many creams that he put on, he didn't know how he had the patience.

"I have something to tell you," Blaine stated, surprising himself. _Where did that come from?_ He was sure he hadn't meant to say that.

"What is it?" Kurt frowned, in the middle of putting on yet another cream.

Blaine froze. He needed to do this. He needed to. He probably hadn't picked the best time, granted, but it had to be done. For his sanity, at least.

"I'm gay, Kurt." He watched the boy carefully as he froze, staring at him with huge eyes through the mirror. His mouth was hanging open and he only just remembered to close it again.

"You're…_what?_" Kurt spun around, looking at Blaine's strewn out figure on the bed. He looked terrified.

"I'm gay," he repeated, heart beating erratically. He was starting to think that this wasn't a good idea after all.

"You're gay." Kurt said, quickly wiping off the cream and coming to kneel on the bed beside Blaine. Blaine made no move to get up. He nodded once, hesitant eyes meeting Kurt's. Kurt could see that acceptance was all he wanted, and he'd be damned if he couldn't give him that.

"Have you…told anyone else?" Blaine nodded again.

"Martha, two weeks ago. Aside from that, no. I could never get up the courage…but being with you showed me that I shouldn't worry about what other people think. That being myself is the best thing to do."

"I showed you that?" Kurt asked, incredulous. He had been a positive influence on another person? On _Blaine?_

"Yes. So thank you. And I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner." Kurt shook his head slightly and gathered Blaine's hand in his again.

"Don't apologise for that. Hell, you didn't even need to even tell me. Thank you for trusting me." Blaine smiled softly, thumb stroking over the top of Kurt's hand.

"You made it easy." He paused for a moment. "You suspected though, didn't you?"

Kurt smiled softly, staring deep into his eyes. "Maybe a little bit. Matt Bomer hinted it, but I also caught your slip-up. Remember when we were talking about what you thought of me being gay and you almost said 'we' instead of 'you'?"

Blaine blushed slightly, smiling but averting his gaze. "Yeah. I beat myself up about that stupid slip-up." Kurt chuckled softly.

"Thank you, Blaine. I mean it." Kurt's voice was the sincerest Blaine had ever heard it so he only replied with a nod and a smile.

They both jumped at the sound of a knock on the door.

"Kurt, Blaine, I'd like you both to sleep now." Carole's soft voice floated through the door, but it carried authority. All those years of raising Finn had probably helped build that.

"Okay, Carole!" Kurt shouted out. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I hope you sleep well in your new bedroom." Blaine's heart swelled. _His_ new bedroom in _his _new house. Well, basically.

He didn't think he'd been this happy and optimistic about his future before.

"Night, Kurt." He hugged Kurt one last time, breathing in his scent that could never be described because it was too intoxicating, before getting up and heading to the door.

Kurt watched as, with one last perfect smile, Blaine disappeared around the door.

**Soooo, I hope you guys all thought that that was okay. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please review if you have time! The next update shouldn't be too long!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Why, hello! Thank you so much for your continued support; I adore you all! *chucks flowers at everyone*. The next update won't be until next Tuesday/Wednesday as my friend is coming to stay. Hopefully Tuesday, depending on what my exam results are. I might be too much of a blubbering mess to write if I've failed;) But, onwards! Some Blaine back story in this one.**

**Warning about homophobic language in this one. I apologise to Klaine and to everyone reading. **

"Time to get up, kid."

Blaine heard a soft voice through the haze of sleep, and vaguely registered that the bed on one side of him had dipped down as if someone were sitting on it. He blinked his eyes open wearily, trying to adjust to the light that poured into his room from the large window opposite him.

He groaned, shielding his eyes from the onslaught of the sun. "Where'm I?" he grumbled, arching his back against the bed to stretch it out.

"The Hummel's house, in your new bedroom. Remember?" Blaine smiled, finally adjusting his eyes to the light and looking up at Burt's face.

"'Course. Just took me a minute." He stopped, raising his head and sniffing loudly. "Do I smell pancakes?"

"Yup. Kurt asked me to come get you to help him, since he won't allow Finn and me to set foot in the kitchen and Carole's had to take the morning shift at the hospital."

Blaine smiled happily. "It reminds me of home." Burt stood up from the bed and Blaine kicked away the covers, sitting with his feet hanging (yes, hanging; he wasn't that tall) off the bed.

"Home? How do you mean?" Burt asked, watching as Blaine got up and started rummaging in his suitcase that he had left open from last night.

Blaine debated for a second as he searched for clean pants and a shirt; he didn't know if he wanted to bring up his past life with Burt, with _anyone._ He preferred not to think about it because it only brought him pain. The longing for his parents to still be alive was strong and he didn't want to be reminded of it. He just wanted to shut it out.

But one small thing couldn't hurt, right?

"When I was young, before my parents died," he carried his outfit for that day over to his bed and dumped it on it, Burt's eyes following curiously. "my mom used to make pancakes for me every Saturday, because my dad was out and he couldn't - " He broke off, gaze shifting to Burt's warily. "I used to adore them. She'd cut them up small for me and drown them in maple syrup." He paused, smiling softly to himself. "It doesn't matter, it's just a stupid memory.

"Hey, no," Burt said, taking a step closer to Blaine. "You don't get to do that, 'kay? Don't block out your memories of them. They were your parents and forgetting isn't the way to go about it."

Blaine looked at him sadly, voice coming out in barely a whisper and mood changing immediately. "But it still hurts."

Burt's heart damn near shattered at the crushed look on Blaine's face. It reminded him so much of Kurt's just after his mom had died so many years ago.

Even this time, it killed him just as much. Because he considered Blaine as his son now, too. He was all Blaine had.

"Look, kid, I know. I understand that it's just a - " he broke off, trying to find the words to explain how losing someone you loved with all your heart felt. Blaine's pleading eyes fell upon him. "It does hurt. It sucks, to be honest. But do ya think that's what your parents would have wanted for you? To be stuck between not even remembering they existed or a…a crushing pain? I know damn well that it's not. No parent wants that. They'd want you to live your life and _honour_ their memory instead of resent it.

"I know how it feels, I swear. I know they've been gone a long time, but it still will get better as you get older. I promise you that, kid. And I don't break promises.

"And I'm here for you, 'kay? Don't forget that. If you ever want to talk about them or just let something out, I'll be a willing audience."

Blaine really was crying now. Had his speech been that bad? He just wanted to be there for the kid, and he knew he was broken. But he also knew that all he wanted was to be fixed.

And Burt was the first person that he trusted enough to do just that.

"Thank you, Burt," Blaine said sincerely, immediately diving in for a hug. Burt held him close as tears leaked from his eyes. "I really mean it. Thank you for everything; you have no idea how much I appreciate it all."

"Not a problem, kid." He slapped him on the back lightly before pulling away.

"Dad! Where on earth is Blaine? I need him here!" They both heard the distinct shout of Kurt from the bottom of the stairs and smiled simultaneously.

"You better go down before he gets mad," Burt joked, heading out the room. Blaine's smile only got wider as he watched him go and realised one thing.

He really was happy here.

XXX

"Blaine! That is _not _how you crack an egg!"

Blaine was trying to pry the egg open with his fingers over the bowl which already contained flour and salt.

"Well, I don't know! I've never done this before! Martha always cracked the stupid things for me," he said petulantly, frowning at a flustered Kurt.

"I thought you'd be a bit better than Finn in the kitchen. Evidently not." Kurt took the egg from him and cracked it perfectly, Blaine looking on in awe.

"You're awesome," Blaine said.

"I just _cracked an egg._ It's really not worth a gold medal."

"Yeah, well. You're even better than Martha." Kurt just looked at him blankly as he started to whisk the mixture.

Blaine sat at their counter for a few minutes and watched Kurt work before spotting a small pile of flour beside the bowl. He grinned to himself.

"BLAINE!" Kurt shouted out a moment later after Blaine had swept a stripe of flour down his nose. "You're absolutely impossible. Go sit down over there while I finish these or we'll never get out." He continued stirring the mixture, forgetting to wipe the smudge of flour from his nose. Blaine chuckled quietly to himself, not wanting to alert Kurt to this.

He went and sat down like he was asked, tilting his head to one side. "Where are we going?"

"Mall," Kurt said simply, adding more ingredients and continuing to whisk.

"The mall? Looking for anything in particular?"

"Yes, actually." Blaine waited for him to expand on that, but he just moved to the pan where he would be cooking the pancakes.

"Care to tell me what it is?"

"Fine. But don't argue with me! I'm getting you a pair of new shoes to replace those god awful trainers you won't part with."

"No, you're not!" Blaine sang, moving to stand next to Kurt, the smell of the pancakes even stronger here.

"Yes, I am. I can't have you living in my house wearing those…_things._ Even Finn ones nicer ones than those." Blaine grumbled over his shoulder. "No arguing, I said. I'm buying you them as a welcoming present."

Blaine didn't answer.

He did know from Finn's moaning that Kurt was a passionate shopper.

This was going to be fun.

XXX

"Kurt, _please, _for the love of all that is good in this world, _don't make me try on another pair of shoes!"_

He swore this had to be the 15th shop they had been in. They had been at this for _three hours _and Kurt _still_ hadn't found a pair that he liked for Blaine.

Honestly, Blaine had been happy with the first ones he had tried on. Hell, he was happy with the ones he already owned. Yes, they were tatty and old, but he didn't mind much. No one looked at your feet anyway.

"I saved the best shop till last, Blaine! I just know we'll find the perfect ones in here." Kurt almost took his hand but thought better of it, since they were in a crowded shopping mall in Ohio. That would never end well. Instead he ushered him into a large, crowded shop that Blaine didn't even bother to catch the name of.

"Why on earth would you save the best for last? We could have been done three hours ago, Kurt. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Why miss all the fun? Ah, here we go!" He stopped him in front of an absolutely huge wall with shoes displayed on it, covering the surface entirely.

Blaine groaned in defeat, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder. "I dislike you."

"Get up, lazy." He clapped his hands together with a grin on his face. "Let's get started."

XXX

Blaine collapsed at the closest table he could find in Starbucks and immediately rested his head on the wooden surface, groaning as Kurt sat opposite him with both their coffees in hand. Blaine's bag thudded onto the floor beside him as he let it go, carrying the cursed shoes that he already hated just for the time it took for them to find them.

"Why are you so tired? Four hours is a short shopping trip. You do _not _want to come with me and Mercedes; we can be in here for the whole _day _and - "

"Stop right there," Blaine said, cautiously raising himself up from the table and massaging his temples. "Even the thought of a whole day shopping makes me feel ill."

Kurt chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. "You'll learn in time." Blaine groaned again, grabbing his own coffee from Kurt.

"How do you like it so far?" Kurt asked, eyes staring inquisitively at a weary looking Blaine.

"Like what?

"This. Living with us." Blaine frowned when Kurt looked slightly worried. Didn't he already know what his answer would be?

"I love it, Kurt. Truly. You have no idea how good it is to get away from that home and just…just be happy.

"I can't thank you enough for everything. I feel like I should just constantly sing it in your ear or something." He chuckled, eyes darting to his coffee.

Kurt smiled softly at him. "You've helped me too, you know. I guess we're even."

Blaine shook his head. "We can never be even. I'll always owe you and your family. You've given me back everything I've longed for since it was taken from me."

Kurt had to stop himself again from linking their hands together, instead trying to convey is emotions through his eyes.

"You're welcome." They sat in silence for a moment, Kurt wondering about whether to ask Blaine the question he'd wanted to for ages. He decided to just go for it. "What were your parents like?"

Blaine instantly tensed up, fiddling with the coffee in his hand for a distraction.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No," Blaine said, eyes flickering up to meet his. "I will." This was the second time today he had talked about his parents and it was starting to overwhelm him a bit, but he would do it. He owed the Hummels everything, and if they truly wanted to know, he would tell them. But that didn't mean he would enjoy doing it.

"My mom and dad were high school sweethearts. Apparently, mom hated dad at first because he was quarterback and thought he ruled the school, hence making him an arrogant piece of crap. God knows how he won her over, but he did. They went to the same college and managed to stay together and then had me. Mom sang at coffee shops and various bars to make a bit of money while dad was CEO of a major law firm. That, as you can imagine, caused them to save quite a bit of money, so I was quite a spoiled child. I don't know how it didn't go to my head, but hey."

"They sound really nice," Kurt said kindly, but Blaine grimaced slightly.

"Mom was good to me. All of my best memories involve her; she was my absolute world. She had hair like mine – curly and untameable, but she managed to look beautiful. Dad was…dad was dad. There's really no other way to describe him. When he was nice, he was the best dad in the whole world. He taught me how to swim and ride a bike, we used to fish…but when he was in a bad mood, it was terrible. I always suspected he hit mom but I never…I'll never know for sure. He used to go absolute _ballistic _if either one of us did something wrong, but I…I still loved him. I still believed in him."

"Blaine," Kurt breathed, forehead creasing. He couldn't believe Blaine had gone through so much in his short life.

"The night before their car crashed…dad had one of his meltdowns, as I called it. But it was the worst he had ever been. He hi - " He swallowed, eyes yet again filling with tears. "He hit me. He had never done it before, but I guess he must have just…snapped, or something. I can't even remember what I did wrong."

"Blaine, I'm so - "

"Don't. It's over. They're dead, nothing to worry about now." Contrary to his blunt words, he was smiling a genuine smile. Kurt sighed, standing up with his coffee in hand.

"Come on, let's go home." Blaine followed him, walking close to him with their shoulders brushing. They walked down the centre of the mall in silence, comfortable to just soak in the atmosphere of the busy shoppers.

Kurt suddenly stopped in his tracks, a horrified look painted onto his now ghost-like face. Blaine immediately jumped to his aid.

"Kurt? Kurt, what's wrong?" Kurt just stared desperately past Blaine so Blaine turned around, confusion masking his features.

The moment he saw the group of guys in Letterman jackets (seriously, they wore them even when they were out of school?) he knew what was wrong.

Kurt's bullies were walking towards them with grins on their faces in the middle of the mall.

"Shit, Kurt, come on. We have to leave quickly." He started dragging him over to the right where the entrance of the mall was, but they were too slow.

"Where do you think you're going, fags? Running off to daddy like you did last time, huh?"

Blaine and Kurt froze simultaneously, staring at the boys who had stopped a small way in front of them. A large boy who had the smuggest grin on his face out of all of them was the one that spoke, and Blaine just knew that it was Karofsky.

All he wanted to do was punch the guy in the face.

"That's better. We wouldn't want you running off, we're only having a nice little lady chat."

"Yeah, well you would know about that, wouldn't you?"

Honestly, he didn't know why he said it. If he could turn back time, for the trouble it caused, he probably wouldn't have. But he just felt this strong need to look after Kurt since he had done so much for him. He wasn't going to just stand and watch Kurt being insulted.

So much was different from when he was bullied at his own school.

Karofsky's grin faded instantly and was replaced by a harsh scowl. "Watch your mouth, lady."

"Yeah? Why? Don't want me to spill your little secret, do you?" The guys in the group all turned to Karofsky in confusion.

"What's he talking about, man?" one of them said, but Karofsky just waved him off.

"This your boyfriend?" he said to Kurt, eyeing Blaine up and down for the first time. "He wears bowties! How cute!" Kurt scowled at him, beginning to pull Blaine's arm.

"Come on, Blaine, he's not worth it."

"No. He's not. But he's not getting away with talking to you like that." Karofsky had the nerve to laugh which just set Blaine off even more. Something ferocious had come over him and all he wanted to do was _kill _the asshole.

So he lunged.

Bad idea.

Karofsky flung him to the floor with one quick push but Blaine immediately got up again, ready to go at him. Kurt, however, had the sense to hold him back even though he was fighting and shouting. Every one of them aside from Blaine had noticed the horrified shoppers making their way towards them.

Karofsky looked around nervously and gave a small nod, backing away and causing all the others in his group to do so too.

"Next time, ladies."

Blaine was still seething and it took all of Kurt's strength to guide him out the mall.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked him when he had calmed down enough to construct a sentence, about five minutes into their walk home.

"Fine," Kurt answered, tone clipped. Blaine didn't pressure him into saying anymore, still too annoyed at the world.

It took them 20 minutes to walk home and by that time, Blaine's anger levels had fallen enough for him to take in what had just happened.

Kurt slammed the door shut behind them as they walked in and immediately went into the living room, sitting down on the sofa furthest away from the one Burt was relaxing on, happily watching the game.

Blaine followed in behind him, a frown covering his face – why did Kurt look so angry? Fair enough, Karofsky had infuriated them both, but this was a completely different level. He looked _livid._

Apparently Burt noticed too, as an identical frown to Blaine's appeared on his face. Blaine warily sat down next to Burt.

Burt glanced at Blaine once and definitely knew there was something up, as he looked worried.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" he said, mainly looking at Kurt who was sitting rigid in his seat. Both boys stayed silent.

"Don't want to pressure you guys, but that last question wasn't really a question. Spill, one of you," he managed to put enough authority in his voice for Blaine to react. His eagerness to please came in handy sometimes, though Burt would have to learn not to exploit it.

"Karofsky and his friends were at the mall and…approached us." Burt immediately saw red. Why couldn't that asshole just leave his boys the hell alone?

"What did they say to you?"

"They just…called us a few names." Blaine looked down shyly at his lap and that was when Burt knew they were hiding something.

"I meant the _whole _story." Blaine immediately reddened.

"Um…I may or may not have…lunged at him."

Burt tried to calm down, he really did. He could understand Blaine's need to hurt the boy, but didn't he know how dangerous that was? Blaine was a small guy and Karofsky already looked like an 18 year old, even though he had only just turned 16. There was no chance of Blaine ever winning a fight like that.

So he took deep breaths and was pretty proud of himself when his heart stopped beating at a hundred miles an hour.

"Kurt? What do you have to say about this?"

Kurt just stared at him blankly. "Not a lot. I've dealt with it all before, no big deal."

The only reason Burt persisted with him is because he _knew_ he was hiding something from him and he was now in no mood to dart around the subject.

"Spit it out, Kurt, I'm not an idiot."

Bad idea number two for the Hummel family that day. Kurt completely snapped.

"You want to know what went on? _Blaine_ has just become public enemy number two to the whole damn football squad! You know the next good thing that comes out of that? _Blaine _will be transferring to McKinley in the near future and has now secured his place in the legion of bullied kids." He stood up, his face flushed with anger.

"He's just _spoiled _his chances of ever getting through that school alive. But yes, I'm _ecstatic _right now. That's what I wanted to come out of that goddamn shopping trip."

With that, he stormed up the stairs and the sound of his bedroom door slamming echoed around the house.

Burt took one look at Blaine and they both shared the same thought.

_Shit._

**Thank you for reading, my lovelies! It would mean a lot if you could review if you have any time! 'till next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello again! Not much to say this time, just that this is quite short chapter so I should have the next up in the next few days to make up for it.**

**As to the future of this story, I have more ideas that could make it go on for quite a while. So, as long as you guys want me to, I'll keep it going up until I run out of things to write about. So it's up to you all, basically! **

**Enjoy!**

Burt and Blaine both sat in a stunned silence as the game on the TV played on happily in the background. Neither quite knew what to say to Kurt's outburst, but both had a new feeling of dread in their stomachs. Blaine eventually broke the silence, his voice coming out shaky and weak.

"Is he right?" His voice was almost pleading with Burt to tell him that no, Kurt was not right. That Blaine wasn't now hated by all of the jocks and that they wouldn't make his life hell when he transferred.

But even Blaine wouldn't have believed him if he _had_ said that.

"Honestly, kid?" Burt turned towards him, face screwed up in a harsh frown. "He probably is. Those kids aren't going to take you standing up to them lightly and if they have a clear shot at school to get back at you…they're sure as hell going to take it."

Blaine sank further down into the sofa, hands coming up to massage his forehead. How had the day gone from excellent to horrifying so quickly?

"So I'm screwed, basically," he stated.

"Not necessarily. You don't have to transfer to McKinley, you could always - "

"No!" Blaine cut him off, accidentally leaning towards Burt with a frantic look in his eyes. "I mean, no. I'm transferring. They're not going to ruin this for me." It was his chance to go to school with _Kurt _and maybe join his Glee club and…he actually thought he could be happy there. He wasn't going to let a bunch of ignoramuses spoil everything for him.

"Just think about it, kid. It's a big decision to willingly go into that school knowing what might happen." Blaine nodded stiffly, eyes settling onto the game that was still on.

"What about Kurt?" he said softly. Burt sighed heavily.

"He only reacted like that because he's fiercely protective of you. He's angry at himself for letting that happen, not you. Just give him 15 minutes or so to calm down, then go talk some sense into him. He's too stubborn for his own good." Blaine nodded again.

"Thank you, Burt. And I'm sorry that I spoiled everything."

"Don't, Blaine. Of course you didn't. Just…don't worry about it for now. I'm sure it'll sort itself out." Blaine didn't realise that Burt was hiding just how worried he really was.

So Blaine sat there, fidgeting with impatience, for 15 minutes and tried to concentrate on the game. He really wanted to check to see if Kurt was okay, but also knew that it was wise to follow Burt's advice. He was his son after all.

Exactly 15 minutes later, Blaine shot up off the sofa and took the stairs two at a time up to Kurt's room. The door was still fully closed and Blaine stopped for a second to see if he could hear any noises from within, but the only sound that came to him was Kurt's music playing softly. He decided to just go ahead and knock; he prayed that Burt was right and that he wasn't furious at Blaine for doing what he did.

But hell, even _Blaine_ was angry at himself. He couldn't believe that he'd been so stupid. But he still stood by his reasoning of protecting Kurt.

"Blaine?" Kurt tentatively answered to the knock. Blaine was glad to find he didn't sound very angry.

"Yeah. Can I come in?" He heard a small noise of approval from inside so went ahead and opened the door, stepping into the room cautiously and shutting the white door behind him.

He turned around to face Kurt, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bed, face solemn. Blaine instantly wanted to run over and wrap him up in his arms to take away his sadness, but he restrained himself.

"Blaine, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I just want the best for you! I was upset that you can't be happy at McKinley now and I don't know what we can do to fix this, but I'm sure there's something, right? You could transfer somewhere else, which sucks because I would have loved having you at my school, but that can't be an option anymore. And this is all _my _fault! I screwed up and I don't know how you can forgive me but _Blaine I'm so sorry!_"

Blaine tried and failed to hide his smile at Kurt's rambling. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to the stricken boy who was staring at him with wide, apologetic eyes. Blaine caught his hand in his and chuckled.

"Of course it's not your fault, silly. And there's no way I'm not transferring to McKinley. Now stop beating yourself up about it." He was surprised to find that it no longer mattered to him, the whole incident. All he bothered about was the fact that Kurt blamed himself entirely when it wasn't his fault at all. He had to show him that.

"But I should've done something…I knew that was going to happen and I didn't try hard enough to stop you!" He flopped backwards on the bed so he lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling in dismay.

"You're an idiot," Blaine said, smiling down at Kurt affectionately.

"Thanks. I know that, but did you really have to go ahead an - "

"No," Blaine said in singsong, not quite clear on why he was suddenly so happy and uncaring. "I mean you're an idiot for thinking it's your fault!" He lay down beside Kurt gently, crossing his arms over his chest. He watched as Kurt swivelled his head to look at him. Their hands were still linked.

"Well, I do. Why would you still transfer after that? Knowing what they might do to you?"

Blaine paused for a second, eyes flickering between Kurt's eyes. A smile crept across his face and his heart skipped a beat.

"So I can be with you."

He watched Kurt's eyes widen and his mouth form a small 'o'. It took him a moment to respond properly, and a small smile tugged at his lips. He suddenly shuffled closer to Blaine on the bed and rested his head on the shocked boy's chest.

Blaine froze for a second, staring down at Kurt's hair that now tickled his chin. He didn't even breathe from the shock.

This was new. And Blaine already loved it.

He wrapped his arm around Kurt, which seemed to be an invitation for Kurt to snuggle closer. Blaine heard Kurt sigh happily into his chest and this only made Blaine smile more.

They were silent for a while, content in holding one another and giving each other comfort.

"Is this overstepping?" Kurt whispered. Blaine frowned slightly.

"Of course not, Kurt," he answered truthfully.

"Would anyone else think it was overstepping?" Kurt asked even more quietly.

Blaine knew exactly what Kurt meant by this. It was something he had been thinking about a lot lately – whether or not their relationship would be considered as completely 'brother-like' by others. Because that's what they were going to be, brothers.

But then there was the other side of Blaine's brain that sometimes slipped; the side that considered a relationship with Kurt that wasn't entirely platonic. This side also knew that they were going to be brothers…but they would never _actually _be brothers. Not truly. There would never be any blood links between them, so technically it would be…okay, right?

Although he did know that a relationship was not something Kurt wanted. Even _he _didn't know if he wanted it. It would also complicate things drastically and people wouldn't understand and…

Why was everything so complicated?

"Let's not worry about them for now."

XXX

"NO! That is _so unfair! Blaine! _Dude, not cool."

Finn had jumped up from the floor in anger, staring down at Blaine pointedly. The Simpsons Monopoly set lay on the floor and Carole, Burt, Blaine and Kurt were sitting around it and looking at Finn with big smiles on their faces. Finn was the usual winner of the game and Blaine, suddenly a new competitor, was beating him.

"Sorry! I just thought getting Burns Manor would be cool."

"No, you didn't!" Finn shouted, sitting back down and crossing his arms in defiance. "You _knew_ I needed that to get the set so I could kick everyone's ass."

"Finn, language!" Carole interceded, scolding her son. He glanced at her and murmured an apology.

Kurt was collapsed on Blaine's shoulder in a fit of laughter. "This is gold!" he managed to choke out and Blaine let out a cough to disguise his own laughter.

"It's just the rules of the game, bud. Blaine can buy whatever he wants," Burt said, causing Finn to scowl even more. "Although I kinda wish it wasn't, because now we'll never finish the game…" he whispered quietly into his wife's ear as the boys kept arguing.

"Right, boys! Who's next? Stop your whining and let's finish so we can get to bed," Carole said, eyes flicking between all three boys. They nodded.

"It's my turn!" Kurt shouted, coming out from Blaine's shoulder.

His turn found him landing on the last building Blaine needed to make a set, so he decided to not buy it just to let Blaine win. Finn cottoned onto this, however, and a full fight broke out between them both which had Finn screaming something about 'brotherly favouritism' and 'loyalty abandonment' while Kurt denied it all.

Carole and Burt shared a look before telling them all to go to bed, sick of their fighting for one night. Burt watched as Blaine started to walk to the stairs side by side with Kurt, before calling him back over.

Blaine looked at him bemusedly before turning back to Kurt and whispering a quick 'night' to him, and walked to Burt again. Burt gestured for him to sit down on the sofa beside him.

"I was thinking me and you could go fishing tomorrow. Finn could maybe come, too. That sound like a good plan?" Blaine stared at him in confusion for a few moments. He hadn't been expecting that; he had more expected to get told of for riling Finn up or something.

"Of course. I think Kurt said something about me meeting Mercedes and Rachel, though…" he trailed off, not wanting to just decline Burt.

Burt just waved his hand as if to brush the matter off. "That's perfect. We can leave Kurt with them so he doesn't moan about us going. You can spend some time with them first though; they're great girls. Rachel's a bit…" He made a swirling gesture with his hands and Blaine thought that he was indicating her tendency to talk too much. "But nice."

"That sounds great!" Blaine said; he had never been fishing before. He was a bit overwhelmed with all the new experiences he was having. He hadn't played Monopoly in years, either.

"I'll see you tomorrow, kid. Sleep well."

"You, too, Burt," Blaine said before heading up the stairs.

As Blaine changed into his pyjamas and sank happily into his bed, he had one defining thought in his head: he really did belong here.

**Thank you for reading and it would mean the world to me if you could review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here I am, apologising again for being a sucky updater. I'm back to school now so updates won't be more than weekly. More revelations on Blaine's part in this one! **

**ENJOY!**

The cheery sound of the doorbell rang through the house, prompting Kurt to fly up from the sofa and almost skip towards the door.

"They're here!" he called loudly, stating the obvious as no one had missed the bell sounding. Blaine stayed stationary on the sofa for a moment, teeth nervously chewing at his bottom lip. He was worried about meeting Rachel and Mercedes, though he wasn't quite sure why. He knew it was partly to do with his social inadequacy but…he really did want to make a good impression on the two girls. They meant so much to Kurt and he didn't want them to walk away hating him.

"Don't worry, sweetie, they'll love you," Carole said to him from the other sofa, a magazine clutched in her hand and a loving smile set on her face.

"How do you know?" Blaine said in a slightly accusing tone, immediately cursing himself internally for being even the slightest bit rude to Carole.

"I just do. Now go have fun. I think Burt said he'd be leaving in an hour." Blaine nodded slightly before hauling himself up off the sofa and cautiously padding towards the door.

"-is he? I'm so excited to meet him!" He peered around the corner and saw a short girl with long brown hair almost jumping up and down.

"Calm, Rachel. You have a tendency to freak people out so can you just tone -"

Her face lit up into a wide, almost maniacal grin as she noticed Blaine edging around the corner.

"BLAINE!" She ran up to him and engulfed him in a hug, surprising him. He gave Kurt a scared look from over her shoulder but raised his arms and carefully embraced her back. She pulled away quickly and stood back a step, eyes roaming down his body and taking him in.

"Kurt, you got a cute one. Where is this home you told me about? Is there any left that I could maybe -?"

"Rachel, I love you, but please shut up," Kurt said from behind her, crossing his arms. She turned to look at him and scowled, grumbling under her breath before turning back to Blaine.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Blaine. I am Rachel Berry, as I'm sure you know. I'm Kurt's fellow Glee Club member, well, actually, I'm the female soloist. But with you transferring soon, we were all thinking about you joining! Do you have any idea of a song you could -"

"Rachel, give the boy a break!" The other girl walked over to him with a less scary manner than Rachel had.

"I'm Mercedes. It's nice to finally meet you, Blaine! Any friend of my Boo's is a friend of mine." He managed to timidly smile back at her.

"Thank you. It's lovely to meet both of you." He glanced up at Kurt who was smiling at him fondly, and he couldn't help but smile back.

Neither noticed Rachel who was glancing between them both as they locked eyes, a grin slowly covering her face.

"Right! We all need to go outside because it's a beautiful day and I want to top up my tan. Out!" Rachel announced, making shooing motions towards the backdoor.

"Sounds good to me! Need any help getting the stuff out, Boo?" Mercedes turned to Kurt, who was grumbling to himself about 'devil sun' and 'too pale for heat'.

"I think Rachel should help if she's forcing us all outside," he said, staring pointedly at his friend who had her eyebrows raised and was still glancing at Blaine occasionally. Who was still staring at Kurt.

"Nope! Mercedes and I are going out into the garden and talking girl stuff for a moment." With that she pulled Mercedes out the back door with her, already whispering heatedly.

Blaine and Kurt watched them through the glass as Rachel animatedly explained something to Mercedes. She suddenly glanced their way and shooed them off, before resuming the conversation.

"What on earth?" Blaine asked, turning to Kurt with an incredulous look on his face.

Kurt sighed loudly, shaking his head. "Rachel Berry for you. Come on, the stuff's in the garage."

Blaine followed him through the doorway to the garage, nose creasing as the musty smell hit him.

"Smells funny," he stated, grabbing two chairs Kurt pointed out to him.

"Most garages do, ours is just a bit more… damp," Kurt said, taking two chairs himself.

"They seem nice," Blaine said as they walked out of the garage and towards the backdoor.

"Rachel and Mercedes? They are. They're really special to me. They seem to like you as well."

Blaine looked down sheepishly as they reached the glass door. "I don't know about that."

"Of course they do, silly. Just be yourself." He smiled at him one last time before opening the door and leading the way out. The two girls immediately stopped their conversation and smiled innocently at them. Kurt stopped and stared at them with his eyes narrowed.

"You two are creepy, you know that?" He placed the two chairs down and offered them to the girls, and Blaine followed his lead and set up his two beside them. They sat down simultaneously, relaxing back into the chair.

"This is nice," Rachel said after a while, eyes closed and sighing in contentment.

"Why don't we get to know each other, Blaine? What kind of stuff do you like to do?" Mercedes said, smiling at Blaine. Blaine stuttered for a second, always at a loss at how to answer this question.

"I'm not…I'm not that interesting, really. I like singing, watching football…not much. I don't really get the chance to."

"Don't worry! I'm sure that will change when you come to McKinley. The New

Directions will be happy to have you." Mercedes answered.

"He doesn't know if he wants to join yet, Mercedes, I told you that," Kurt said, glaring at her.

"What?" Rachel shouted, body rising from her seat. "That's preposterous! If you can sing then you have to join the New Directions! We need new members and it'll be perfect because you'll already know us!"

"I said to Kurt I'll think about it. I promise," Blaine answered, genuinely quite scared at the thought of saying no to Rachel.

"As long as you think about it," Rachel concluded.

"Juice. I need juice to put up with this heat," Kurt stated, ready to get up out of his chair before Rachel placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Blaine and I can go get that." She stood up, motioning for Blaine to do the same. He glanced at Kurt quickly, seeing that he looked just as confused as Blaine felt.

He stood up and Rachel immediately linked their arms together, heading through the door and into the kitchen. Rachel went straight ahead and got four glasses out the cupboard and Blaine collected the juice from the fridge.

"I know about how you feel," Rachel said suddenly, looking at him with bright brown eyes. He placed the carton down and frowned at her. She was becoming more confusing by the second.

"I don't know what you mean." He unscrewed the cap and began to pour the orange liquid into each of the glasses.

"How you feel about Kurt," she said, and Blaine almost dropped the juice. He turned to look at her, surprised to find that she looked a bit nervous. Still excited, though.

"I…um, still don't know what you mean." He sniffed, eyes shifting from her to the glass he was pouring into.

"Yes, you do." She stepped closer to him, eyes alight. "I see how you look at him. It's how Finn looks at me. And I imagine from the look on your face now that you haven't completely realised it, but you kind of know!" She pointed a finger into his face and he flinched back slightly.

"I…um…" He really didn't know what to say to that. Did he really look at Kurt in a way that made Rachel think he liked him as…more than friends? She hadn't even known he was _gay._ She was right, _he_ didn't even know if he liked him like that but…how had Rachel noticed so easily? That was worrying. Everything about his stupid feelings was worrying.

"You don't have to say anything, but know that I'm here if you want to talk." She picked up two of the glasses and started to walk away.

"Don't you think it's wrong?" Blaine said softly, unsure of why he was even confiding in the girl he hardly knew.

"That what's wrong?" Rachel said, turning back around to face him.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, gaze fixed on the floor. "If I did maybe…feel like that. Isn't that wrong? We're going to be brothers and…Kurt would never feel like that towards me and…you're right, I don't know if I even do feel like that, but what if I did?" Rachel's face melted and she put the glasses back down, coming towards him and hugging him again. He relaxed into her this time, wondering why he felt he could talk to her so easily.

"I know Kurt better than most people, Blaine. He has the same look in his eyes that you do but I think…I think he's a tad more oblivious than you as to how he feels. I would say to just give it time and who knows what might happen? You both deserve someone to make you happy.

"And no, I don't think it's wrong. A bit…unconventional maybe and not everyone would understand. But open people like me would."

Blaine nodded once, taking the remaining glasses from the counter. "Was I really that obvious, though?" he asked.

Rachel grinned at him. "I'm just very observant!" she said before heading outside again.

Kurt's friends really were something special.

* * *

"Blaine? Time to go." Burt poked his head around the doorway to where the four teenagers were sitting, each one creased up laughing. He was surprised to see that Blaine was so comfortable in their presence already. He kind of felt a bit guilty for tearing him away, but he really needed to talk to him. Blaine staying for the weekend wasn't just about him spending time with Kurt.

Blaine rose from his chair carefully, trying not to fall over from the laughter that shook his body.

"No! You have to go?" Rachel said, her laughter stopping and forehead creasing into a frown.

"He's coming fishing with me and Finn," Burt said with a smile.

"Oh. Damn," Rachel said, eyes downcast. She froze for a second before jumping up and hugging Blaine for the third time, and this time Blaine could laugh as he held her.

"See you soon, okay?" Her eyes were sparkling and Blaine could see she was reminding him of their earlier conversation.

"Definitely. Bye, guys!" He waved at Mercedes and Kurt before following Burt out the door.

"Finn still coming?" Blaine asked as they headed towards the front door, Burt picking up his fishing gear from the kitchen.

"Yup. He's waiting in the car for us."

"Oh, right. Did I hold you up?" he asked, watching as Burt closed the front door behind them and then walked side by side to the car.

"Not at all, kid. You're right on time. Just hop in the back." Blaine did as Burt said as the older man hauled the mass of fishing equipment into the boot.

"Hey, man! You excited?" Finn asked him before he even had time to shut the door behind him. He looked over at the boy while putting his seatbelt on and was unsurprised to find him almost jumping up and down in his seat.

"I am, actually. I've never been fishing before."

"Seriously? You're missing out. Burt took me for the first time a year ago or something, and we try and go every month."

"I've always wanted to try it. How far away is the place?"

"Oh, about an hour or something. I don't really know; it normally just flies past."

Blaine nodded, fiddling with his seatbelt.

"So you met Rachel, huh?" Finn asked, trying to ignore Burt's light cursing from outside the car.

"Yeah. She's really, really great." Blaine was already in debt to the girl for allowing him to be so open with her.

"Yeah, she is." Blaine didn't fail to notice the spaced out look Finn got as he quite obviously went into a daydream consisting of the pretty girl. He looked like he was completely in love.

Which is the look Rachel claimed Blaine to have; the same look as Finn's.

Damnit. If he did look like that, it was completely obvious, and she had lied.

Yet he still didn't even know how he felt. He knew it was…more than how he would feel for a normal friend. But he didn't know exactly what it was.

Either way he wasn't entirely comfortable with it. He wasn't even comfortable with Rachel kind of knowing.

Through his daydreaming, he hadn't even noticed that they had reversed out the driving and were well on their way to the lake.

* * *

"Up, Blaine! Pull UP!" They all groaned as the tension on Blaine's line completely receded and the fish swam away with his bait.

Again.

"I suck!" He shouted, looking from Finn who sat on his left to Burt who sat on his right.

"It's your first time, dude. What do you expect?" Burt started laughing suddenly and couldn't stop, and Blaine frowned as Finn went red and concentrated on watching his float again.

"I'm missing something, aren't I?"

Burt stopped laughing enough to talk intelligibly. "When I first brought Finn here, his first bite ended with him falling in the lake and screaming at the top of his lungs about how he was drowning."

Blaine looked between them for a second before dissolving into a fit of laughter. "You didn't!" he said between gasps, and Finn's firm glare was enough to answer his question. "That's gold."

"Yeah, well, I've gotten better. Ha!" He shouted, just as he pulled the rod up and his five minute long battle with an average sized fish began.

They rejoiced when he finally brought it into shore and then, as of the rules of the lake, released it and watched its tail flap once before it shot away.

"Bye, fishy!" Blaine said, waving at the water.

"Really, dude?" Finn asked, looking at him like he was insane.

"What? I grew fond of him."

"We shoved a hook in his mouth, took him out his natural habitat and threw him back in. That doesn't sound like acts of fondness, kid."

Blaine playfully scowled at Burt.

"You gonna re-bait?" Finn asked him, doing exactly that to his own hook. They were using spam and it was actually going quite well.

"Sure. How do you do that?" he said sheepishly. Finn motioned for him to angle the rod so that the hook was towards him (almost hitting him in the face as he did so) and then took a bit of spam and pinched it onto the hook. He then, once again, showed Blaine how to cast it out.

Which unfortunately didn't go very far.

And the force immediately took off his bait.

He obviously blamed Finn.

The next few hours passed like this, Finn catching some fish (which included the biggest one of the day), Burt catching more fish, and Blaine catching no fish.

Even though it was his first time, Burt and Finn did not take the liberty of letting him get away with his lack of fish easily. They continued to tease him every time they hooked another on their line. Which turned out to be quite a lot.

By the time they regained their sense of timing, the sun was setting far in the distance, its strong, orange light casting rays over the water, causing it to shimmer and sparkle. Blaine had given up on the fishing and now lay on the ground, staring at the orb so low down in the sky.

He had had a really good day, and was surprised at how comfortable he now felt with both Burt and Finn even without Kurt there.

He felt like he was actually becoming part of the family, and not just an outsider looking in.

"We'd better be heading off now, boys. Blaine needs to be back at the home before ten tonight, so we don't have much time."

"It's like, eight now…" Finn said, reeling his line in as Burt did the same.

"Yup. Which means Carole's going to kill me when we get back because Blaine still needs to pack. So get to it." They all began to dismantle the equipment, Burt ordering Finn to take half of it to the car and he and Blaine would follow in a moment.

Blaine watched as Finn walked off, not really being able to help with the packing up, knowing so little about it all.

"I have something to discuss with you, kid." Burt said, standing up straight and looking at Blaine. He must have sensed the panic in Blaine's eyes because he immediately reassured him it was nothing bad.

"It's about Kurt. And your…relationship." Blaine swore his heart almost jumped out his throat and started rolling around on the ground in horror.

This could not be good. He was getting the talk that was meant for Kurt after he had first noticed them holding hands. Excellent.

"I can't say that I understand the relationship you two have but…I can see it's good for both of you. You're somehow making Kurt happier than he's ever been and I can't do anything but thank you for that. And I can see he makes you happy too."

It kind of sounded like Burt was allowing them to be boyfriends. Either Blaine was crazy or Burt wasn't very good at wording things.

"I…don't quite understand," Blaine said, turning to stare back over the lake at the sun which had sunk so far that he couldn't see it; only the rays of light still casting over the horizon told the world it was there.

"Your friendship. The holding hands and being close…stuff. It isn't really conventional, right? But you two are special and it's great that you can feel so close."

He let out a huge sigh of relief. Not boyfriends, then. Thank god.

Burt didn't know about him being gay, however. And suddenly, due to the excellence of his day and his uplifted spirits, he toyed with the idea of telling him.

He owed it to him though, right? He was willingly adopting him and he shouldn't agree to do that without knowing the one thing that might change his mind…

He really didn't know where his confidence towards telling people had come from. Maybe it was Kurt and Rachel's acceptance, or maybe it was because he felt that it wasn't fair on Burt if he didn't know beforehand…so he decided to take a leap of faith.

"Can I tell you something? And can you promise not to freak out?"

Burt stopped in his tracks and frowned at Blaine. Blaine still didn't avert his gaze from the soft fluctuations of the water.

"That sounds ominous. But go for it, kid"

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His heart was beating erratically in his chest and he was so, so anxious.

Maybe he would do a Finn and jump in the water.

"I'm…I'm not straight."

Burt's frown deepened. "You're…not straight. What?"

"Gay. I mean, I'm gay." Blaine blurted out, eyes staying shut as he heard Burt take in a breath.

"Right. Well, that's fine. Let's go home, kid," he said simply, and with that he started walking towards the car where Finn was waiting.

Blaine stared at him incredulously. He really wasn't going to say anything else?

"Wait! You don't…care?" Burt turned back around, a small smile on his face.

"I care about _you_, Blaine. I don't care if you're gay or straight or turn into a werewolf at the full moon. It's you and your happiness that I concern myself with, you being gay doesn't change a single thing. I still think of you as my son and it will stay that way as long as you want it to." Blaine's eyes had filled up with tears by that point, and he had to restrain himself from tackling Burt into a hug, but that would send the fishing stuff flying everywhere and he probably wouldn't like that very much.

Instead, he smiled at him. "Thank you, Burt." They began walking back towards the car which Finn was leaning against, his face shadowed by the absence of the sun.

"Does Kurt know?" Burt asked a second later, slowing down so that Blaine was level with him.

"Yes. I told him on Friday." Burt nodded once, a thoughtful look coming over his face.

"I'm really glad he's got you, Blaine. I mean that."

Blaine smiled at him, his gaze resting on the dark, shaded water one last time.

"I'm the one that should be glad."

**Thank you for reading and I'd love it if you could review! Till next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Once again, the sucky updater returns. I can't even tell you how sorry I am, but school is trying to drown me alive in work and I just haven't felt like writing recently. But no excuses! I shouldn't have taken this long.**

**Anyway, I hope you can still enjoy this chapter!**

Burt, Finn and Blaine finally arrived home just past nine to a flustered Carole, who quickly shooed them all inside and ushered Blaine up to his room so he could pack in what little time he had before they had to leave and drive back to the home.

Blaine, however, couldn't stop smiling. He had had such a miraculously good day and even though it was coming to a close, along with the weekend as a whole, it couldn't deter his happiness. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so…_free. _It was as if a lead weight had finally been taken off his shoulders and he could breathe deeply again. He couldn't even pinpoint one particular bit of the weekend that had made him feel like this; every bit of it had somehow aided him. Aside from the incident at the mall, but that was hidden behind a door at the back of his mind for now.

When he arrived at his bedroom, he threw himself down onto the bed one last time, wriggling and breathing in the now familiar smell to make sure he memorised it. He had no idea when he would be back, after all.

"Comfortable?" a questioning voice came from behind him and he shot up immediately, running his fingers through his insanely curly hair (he had forgone the gel this weekend) in embarrassment. "Why were you being a snake on your bed?" Kurt asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"I was…um…trying to memorise it before I leave," Blaine answered truthfully, staring at Kurt's socked feet.

Kurt's smile slipped immediately, a cloud of sadness settling over his face. He walked to the bed and then crawled across it to Blaine, gathering him into a strong hug. "You'll be back before you know it, I promise," he reassured, hands fisting in the back of Blaine's t-shirt to pull him closer. Blaine's hands rested solidly on his hips, nose nuzzling into his shoulder as he tried to memorise Kurt as well. He knew this was far from goodbye, but it also felt like this oasis of happy was being ripped away from him cruelly.

"I'll miss you," he whispered, and Kurt somehow clutched him closer.

"I'll miss you, too, Blaine. But we'll see each other at the weekend, right? It's not for long at all." Blaine nodded, pulling out of the hug and sitting back on his knees.

"I've just got used to having you – having you _all _ – around. I don't want to go back to being lonely again." His deep hazel eyes, shining with the depth of his emotions, met Kurt's sea blue ones. Kurt looked almost as desolate as he felt.

"I'll get my dad to set up that weeklong visit as soon as possible, okay? Then you only have to come for the month one before you can stay here forever. It's not long. We just need to…hang on."

"I know," Blaine conceded, sighing. "I know." He could do it, but only because he knew what would come at the end of it. It was a beacon of light at the end of the longest dark tunnel in history, and if he could just find the strength to keep walking, the results would be worth it all.

Because he would be a Hummel. He would be a McKinley student.

He would be happy.

"Boys! Blaine needs to leave in 10 minutes so would you hurry up, please!" Carole said from the doorway, her voice stern but her eyes soft as she noticed how close they were sitting together.

"Sorry, Carole. I'm just packing now." Blaine smiled at Kurt before climbing off the bed and opening his suitcase. Most of his clothes were still in there, since he hadn't bothered to take them out in the first place.

He set to work gathering up his belongings that were strewn across the room, and all the while Kurt watched him from his place on the bed. Kurt suddenly started singing very softly, and Blaine had to stop when he heard his voice.

_We'll meet again,  
Don't know where,  
Don't know when  
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day  
Keep smiling through,  
Just like you always do  
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away._

Kurt shook his head and came out of his trance a few seconds after he stopped singing, casting an apologetic look at Blaine. "Sorry. That was a bit depressing for the situation. Moving on…" Blaine continued to stare at him, eyes wide and a shoe poised to go into his case unmoving in his hand. "Blaine? You okay?"

"I…your _voice, _Kurt," he said, still staring incredulously at him. "It's…it's _beautiful._" Kurt immediately blushed a shade of beetroot and he ducked his head, smiling coyly.

"It's alright" Kurt said shyly, relaxing back on to the bed since he knew Blaine was okay.

"No, no. It's gorgeous. I had…_no _idea, Kurt." Blaine ran his hand through his tousled hair and chuckled, resuming his packing. "You really can do everything," he mumbled to himself.

"I…thank you," Kurt said simply, not wanting to dispute Blaine's statement. He knew his voice was good; he had been told many times. But it had never been described as _beautiful _before, and coming from Blaine…it meant so much to him.

"I don't want you to leave," Kurt said softly a few minutes later as he watched Blaine's futile attempts to close his case _again. _Blaine's prompting eyes fell on him and he immediately got up with a sigh and went to sit down on the cursed object.

"I don't want to leave, either," Blaine said as he tugged the zip shut then looked apologetically at Kurt. "But it's not forever, right? We just need to hold onto that."

"It's hard, though," Kurt said a moment later, remaining sat on the case. "I mean, it's hard for _me, _so I can't imagine how you must feel."

"It'll be alright," Blaine said finally, hand resting on Kurt's shoulder for a moment before he got up.

"BOYS!" Carole's loud shout came from downstairs, and it didn't take a genius to release she was starting to panic. It was 9.35 and it took at least 20 minutes to get to the home, and they needed to arrive at 10. The timings were tight.

"Coming!" They shouted back in unison, chuckling as they looked at each other in shock before hauling the suitcase down the stairs. This time, however, Kurt helped.

It seemed like just a moment later that Blaine and Carole and Kurt (who had decided to come along, too) were all packed in the car, Blaine having already said his goodbyes to Burt and Finn, who were currently standing in the doorway of the house and waving at them through the dark.

About halfway through the peaceful drive, the mellow sound of an unknown singer coming from the radio the only sound that interrupted the silence, Kurt reached over and took Blaine's hand. Blaine smiled at him softly, grasping it tighter and taking a deep breath.

They all piled out the car ten minutes later, the clock on the dash read 22:02 and Carole was still in a slightly panicked state.

"It was lovely having you, Blaine, and I'm sure we'll be able to set up that weeks visit as soon as possible if that's what you want." She pulled him into a tight hug then kissed his head.

"I would love that. Thank you so much," Blaine said, smiling at her as she made waving motions for him to quickly walk up the drive. She stayed at the car, slyly giving Blaine and Kurt a quick moment to say goodbye.

They walked up the path hurriedly, Blaine's suitcase dragging behind him, the grumbling noise it made on the ground an echo of Blaine's forlorn mood. Everything seemed like it was going so fast – too fast. It was being taken too quickly from him.

"I guess I'll see you on Saturday, then," Kurt said when they reached the door, smiling softly at him.

"You promise?"

"Of course, Eyebrows," Kurt teased, pulling him in for one last hug while he grumbled.

"Night, Kurt."

"Goodnight, Blaine."

Blaine walked into the house, the door swinging shut behind him. The barrier between him and what he wanted, what he so desperately _needed, _returning once again.

It was like nothing had ever changed.

**Sorry that it wasn't that long! I would love it if you could review and tell me what you think. Thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you again for all your reviews and alerts! I hope the story is living up to your expectations. Also, for anyone who read my story Not So Different, there is a small bit in this that is slightly similar. I promise, it wasn't deliberate. I kind of picture Ricky as a dark brown haired cross between Blake from Glee Project and Sebastian, just in case you wondered. **

**Warning for homophobic language. You have permission to tackle glomp Blaine at the end.**

Blaine groaned as the all too familiar trill of his and Thomas' alarm rang out through the darkened room.

He didn't want to get up and he certainly didn't want to go to school.

Thomas jumped up from his bed and stretched, groaning as his bones clicked.

"Urgh, could you not do that? It's disgusting," Blaine grumbled at him, rolling so he was face down on the bed.

"My apologies, your Highness," Thomas fake bowed at Blaine even though he couldn't see him, and preceded to throw on his school clothes in the blink of an eye. Almost no time later he wandered over to Blaine's bed and nudged his head roughly.

"You'll give me hell later if I don't force you up, so come on. I'll do the breakfast today, just get your sorry ass out of bed." With that he was out the door, the harsh slamming noise reverberating around the room.

Blaine didn't know if he wanted to thank Thomas for being friendlier that normal, or kill him for being so annoying.

With one last heavy sigh, he extricated himself from the mass of blankets entombing him, carefully raising himself from the bed and rubbing at his eyes.

Positivity. He needed to be positive. He would see Kurt again on Saturday; all he had to do was get through the week. Just one, measly, run of the mill week.

He could do that, right?

He stumbled sleepily to the wardrobe, picking out a pair of dark, turn up jeans and a bright red shirt. As he walked back to his drawers to find some underwear, he slipped the shirt over his head which messed up his already tousled hair. He had forgone a shower the night before, too upset to care, but when he caught what his bed head looked like in the mirror he regretted his laziness. He was going to need half a bottle of gel just to stop it from sticking up in all directions.

He pulled on his underwear and jeans, nearly falling over onto his bed from his lack of balance. He was surprised that Ahmed hadn't woken up yet from the extra noise he was making this morning – the boy normally slept through the alarm but this was a new record for the time it took him to get up.

Blaine decided he would be a nice person and wake Ahmed up before he left the room, even though he knew the boy would never even think to return the favour.

As his still only half functioning mind tried to remember what else he needed, his eyes settled on the shoes Kurt had bought for him just two days before when on their disastrous shopping trip. The memory, although it encompassed the attack by Kurt's bullies, made him smile for the first time that day. It seemed like a different lifetime altogether; in fact, the whole time spent at the Hummel's did. And as the magical thought swam into his head, _I could have that for the rest of my life if I wanted, _he really _did _feel positive.

He slipped on the black dress shoes with a grin, forgetting socks, shook Ahmed awake and walked out the door.

* * *

He walked out the Lima Bean, clutching his steaming coffee tightly in his hand, before continuing the walk to school. He wasn't tired anymore, he wasn't even that bothered about the coffee, he had just wanted to visit a place that he associated with Kurt.

The starry-eyed boy had become his whole world without him even realising it, and there wasn't any way to reverse that now.

"Brothers," he reminded himself quietly, taking a sip of his coffee and wincing when it scalded his tongue.

The morning air was warm, as per usual for May, and combined with the coffee, Blaine was nearly sweating already. His satchel hit off his leg uncomfortably and the sound of the banging and his shoes hitting the concrete fought for dominance. Increasing the pace of his walk, wanting to reach the air-conditioned school building as quickly as possible, he took another long sip of his coffee, finishing it in record time before throwing it into a nearby bin as he reached the school gates.

He walked through the main doors, sighing as the cool air hit him, his body revelling in the unexpected temperature change.

He walked to his locker as usual, and immediately noticed that he was being stared at. Not just by one or two people, that would be nothing new, but _everyone._ They all turned to look and snicker as he walked past them, some whispering with their friends while their gaze slipped to him every few seconds.

What was going on?

He frowned, a sense of dread settling over him like a blanket, completely masking his positivity.

He jogged the last few steps to his locker, fumbling to try and get the combination in as quickly as possible so he could focus on something other than the stares.

_Biology, Classics, English…_ He recited the books he needed in his head like a mantra, pulling them out and into his bag carefully before shutting his locker slowly and deliberately. He turned back around, eyes scanning the crowded hallway and finding almost every student's eyes boring into him, familiar or otherwise.

The bell went and he breathed a sigh of relief, meeting a few of the other's eyes before walking to registration.

He was almost there when he saw them – his own brand of bullies. Kurt had Karofksy and his gang; Blaine had Ricky and his followers. The guy was a walking stereotype – he had all the makings of a typical American teen guy. The perfect hair, teeth, Quarterback of the football team, grades higher than almost everyone else's (aside from Blaine's) and he even had a pretty blonde cheerleader for a girlfriend.

Could he get anymore boring?

Blaine resented him, not only for the fact that he was the main guy making his life a misery, but also for the sheer _perfection _that Ricky's life was. He wasn't jealous, not really, but he certainly didn't think it fair. The guy got it so easy.

Ricky and his group had stopped outside the room Blaine needed to enter, and were staring at him with smirks on their faces. Ricky's eyebrows were raised, and it made Blaine _sure _that the whole school knew something that he didn't. It would explain the stares, and Ricky didn't normally meet him at an arranged place. Blaine wasn't special enough for him to actually _plan_ the bullying, he supposed.

So when he reached the boys, he stopped, he raised his head, and he waited. Waited for whatever they were going to hit him with, no matter how bad it was.

Ricky just stared at him for a minute, looking him up and down before barking out a laugh.

"We know what you are, Anderson," he said, his tone low and menacing.

And that was it. They all walked off laughing, not even turning back to look at him. Blaine stared after them, confusion masking fear, feeling the eyes of his peers settle on him from every which way in the hall.

He didn't understand. What could he have meant? What could everyone possibly know?

He shook his head, walking into class. He knew he would find out too soon.

* * *

It took until lunchtime for him to find out what exactly the whole school found hilarious, and honestly, he could have been told in a more pleasant way.

No one spoke to him until then, he even caught a _teacher_ looking at him shiftily, but he tried to ignore it. He tried to hard. But it was as if every snicker, every glare, cut deeper into his heart and made him shrink in on himself.

He wanted Kurt here with him so badly. He would know what to do.

So, safe in the knowledge that it was only a few hours until he could go home, he walked into the cafeteria and joined the queue.

As some kind of small miracle, the people in front and behind him didn't seem to know who he was, and so didn't start staring at him from a close range. He managed to get his lunch without any problem, and he went to sit down at the only free table left in the room. No one sat beside him, but that was normal. No one wanted to be sitting beside the 'freak'.

He noticed, while trying to eat his lunch as fast as possible so he could get out of there, that not as many people were looking his way.

Maybe this would blow over after all. Maybe there was no huge secret and they had all just ganged up on him to make him feel uncomfortable.

He allowed himself to relax a little, shoving the last tomato in his mouth before getting up and swinging his bag over his shoulder.

Every day, after he finished his lunch, he went up to the library so he could sit in peace for a while. He would stay up there the whole time, but no food was allowed, unfortunately. It really was his only sanctuary in the school, and even the librarian somehow understood and didn't ask questions when he returned there every day without fail. She often smiled at him, and he thought that maybe she was his only ally.

It turned out that he didn't make it to the library that day. He was intercepted before he could even get close.

As soon as he walked out of the cafeteria, Ricky and two others rose from their normal table and started to follow him, unbeknownst to Blaine. He hummed quietly to himself, sure he was alone, but this only masked the quiet sound of their footsteps coming closer to him.

"Hey!" he heard an all too familiar voice call out, and he blanched, turning around to meet the boy he knew would be standing there. "It's nice to see you, Blaine. I was just coming to apologise to you."

Blaine stared at him in shock, eyebrows furrowing. "Apologise?" he squeaked out, cursing his voice for sounding so pathetic.

"Of course!" He grinned, standing directly in front of Blaine and crossing his arms. The two guys who had followed him were standing on either side, poses identical.

Blaine couldn't help thinking that this seemed like a scene out of a bad movie. One that would not end well.

"We didn't mean for your secret to pass around school so quickly, but you know what teenagers are like. Gossiping is second nature to them." His smile only widened, and his stupid perfect teeth bit at his lip, almost as if he were trying to hold in a laugh.

"My secret?" Blaine asked timidly, but he was beginning to realise. Beginning to see _what he was._

They knew. Somehow, they knew.

He fought the urge to run, biting his tongue to stop himself from breaking down in tears. What was he going to do now? They _knew._

"Oh, you don't know yet?" Ricky took one step closer. "That you're a dirty," one more step, "little," another, "_fag._"

Blaine was sure he let out a whimper of desolation before he was grabbed, grabbed by so many, _too many hands, pain, _and he found himself horizontal on the ground, eyes squeezed shut and mind sending up a hopeless prayer.

"You've been in the closet for so long and you didn't even have the manners to tell us! I thought we were friends, huh, Blainey?" He could barely hear Ricky over the rush of blood in his head, whether from the all consuming fear he felt all or the pain he was trying to deal with, he didn't know. "Well, for your little slip-up, you can go back _in _the closest for a while." He recognised the feeling of being dragged along the floor, but he didn't try to fight. It was useless, he knew that from experience. Instead, he clutched his head with his hands and tried to mentally picture Kurt's face smiling at him, telling him it would be okay.

He stopped moving, and from behind his eyelids he could vaguely tell that he was someplace that was visibly darker than the school halls with their bright fluorescent lights.

"Don't have too much fun!" Ricky ordered before slamming the door behind him, the room plunging into complete darkness. Blaine could hear their laughing as they went down the corridor, but only after they had locked the door with a key they had probably stolen.

Blaine opened his eyes a crack, breath coming out in large huffs, heart still beating at a hundred miles an hour.

_They know they all know what am I going to do what am I going to do…_

His thoughts spun around his head in a panic, each merging into the next until one thought was dominant.

_Kurt._

That was when he broke down.

* * *

He thudded the door with his fists, screaming out a cry for help repeatedly until his voice went hoarse.

He didn't know what time it was. He didn't know how long he had been in there. He didn't even know how long it took him to stop crying and start trying to get out of there.

The door wouldn't budge, that was obvious. But if a teacher walked past, maybe they would let him out? They had to, one had to come soon, they couldn't just leave him here.

It took a long time for the door to give out underneath his fists, revealing a very confused face.

"Blaine? What on _earth _are you doing in there?" Mr Burns, his Calculus teacher, said in surprise.

Blaine breathed a sigh of relief, a throbbing hand coming up to run through his gelled hair. "I got locked in, sir."

"Locked in? By who? Surely no one would _lock_ you in a cupboard, Blaine, that's preposterous."

That was when Blaine realised something else. No one would even believe him. Whoever he told would just brush this off as silliness, because that was how crap his school was. Ricky…he was the favourite. His perfectness gained him that status with every teacher in the school, and no one would ever believe that he could do wrong.

His crumpling sadness suddenly turned into pure anger. His words spilled out without any pre-thought.

"Ricky Jordan. That's who locked me in the cupboard, but I don't expect you to believe me, so don't worry about it."

"Blaine, really, would you just calm dow -"

"No! I've been stuck in that fucking cupboard for god knows how long and I'm sick of you all! I'm sick of this school, sick of the bullying, sick of fucking everything! Now leave me _alone!"_

He ignored the calls of his name as he thundered along the corridor, face set like stone.

_He needed Kurt._


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you again for all your reviews etc! I really, really do appreciate them. And I actually updated this weekend. I call that progress! **

**Rachel and her crazy return in this chapter!**

He almost ran all the way back to the home, tears threatening to escape his terrified hazel eyes all the way. He was in physical pain from the beating Ricky and his gang had given him as well as emotional pain. He didn't know what he was going to do, how he was going to survive the rest of the week, and a whole other cascade of questions that kept forcing themselves at him with every step he took.

By the time he'd sprinted up the drive to the home's door, the tears had managed to slyly slip out and were now creating heavy tracks down his face. He slammed the door behind him, not caring when he heard a scream of fright from one of the children in the house, and immediately thundered up to his room, his heavy steps hiding the sound of his heavy sobs.

He opened the door to his room, dismayed to find Thomas lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling blankly. The boy met his eyes and a confused look passed over his face instantaneously.

"Blaine?" He raised himself up into a sitting position, genuinely looking concerned for Blaine's wellbeing. "Blaine, what's wrong?"

Blaine could only stare at him for a moment, not even bothering to scrub away the tears from his face. "Out." He said forcefully, eyes boring into the now even more confused boy.

"What?" Thomas replied, standing up and starting to come over to him.

"I said GET OUT!" he screamed, and Thomas instantly recoiled. Blaine's eyes followed him as he walked out the door, shutting it lightly behind him.

Blaine tore his bag off his shoulder and collapsed on his bed, wincing as he came down on his no doubt bruised shoulder. He brought his hands up to clutch at his head, only just resisting the urge to scream and shout until his voice was hoarse.

He couldn't, he just _couldn't _understand how everything had gone from being so perfect to absolutely horrific in the space of 24 hours. Why did Ricky want to make his life a living hell? What had Blaine done to make him deserve that kind of treatment?

He was going to take a wild guess and say that somehow Ricky and Karofsky knew each other and had somehow figured out that Blaine was _Blaine _and that he was also gay.

Although him being gay was just an ignorant assumption that Karofsky had made since apparently someone who was gay physically could not be friends with someone who wasn't.

It just happened to be an assumption that was correct.

_Kurt, he needed to phone Kurt. _In his rage and bombardment of confusing thoughts he had completely forgotten that Kurt would be there for him if he just picked up the phone.

"What time is it?" he muttered to himself, completely forgetting that he had walked out of school unconcerned with the actual time, or whether he was actually _allowed _to leave school.

But of course, Thomas was home, which meant it was well after the time he usually got home.

He was pretty sure Thomas went to a posh private school that was a 10 minute walk away. His aunt or uncle or other family member, Blaine didn't know, that was unwillingly to take him as their own apparently still cared enough to pay thousands a year for his tuition. Blaine couldn't quite understand that, but hey, it was none of his business. But Thomas was let out of school a half hour later than Blaine was, which meant Kurt must also be home.

He managed to haul himself up from his bed, sniffing furiously and scrubbing at his eyes as if Kurt could see him through the phone. He picked up the mobile which was a make that probably came out in the day of the dinosaurs, and immediately pressed the call button when he found Kurt's number. He slowly sat back down on his bed and nervously curled a stray ringlet around his finger, praying that Kurt would pick up while simultaneously stressing about what he was actually going to say. He hadn't managed to think that far ahead. But it kept on ringing. And ringing. Blaine had almost given up when he heard Kurt's voice take over from that incessant ringing.

"_Blaine?" _

"Kurt, oh thank god, I thought you weren't going to answer and I _need _you Kurt, you just, you won't believe what's happened, _I _can't believe what's just happened and I want you so bad, Kurt." He finished with a heart-crushing sob, head falling into his free hand once more and the tears stinging at his eyes. He hadn't actually meant to start immediately rambling.

"_Blaine? Blaine, honey, you need to tell me what's wrong or I can't help. Just…calm down for me, okay?" _

Blaine didn't answer for a moment, taking deep breaths and trying to stem the flow of tears.

"_Blaine?"_ Kurt prompted. Blaine took a singular deep breath while moving to lie on his bed, letting the soft sheets curl around him and relax him. When he spoke, he spoke in a tranquil monotone.

"They know, Kurt. Every single person at my school knows I'm gay and they resent me for it. I got locked in a cupboard by Ricky and my shoulder feels like it's exploding and I'm terrified of everything and I miss you." He closed his eyes, moving to lie on his side as he heard Kurt's even breaths resonate down the phone line.

"_Blaine, I –"_

"What am I going to do, Kurt? How can I just…_walk in there _tomorrow like nothing's happened? Like I don't know they're all disgusted by me? How can I willingly go back to that?" His voice shook as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

Kurt was silent for a while and Blaine could just about hear soft music playing in the background.

"_You just need to have courage, Blaine. It's not easy, I know that, of course I do, but you have to believe that you're better than all of them because you **are. **You're charming and smart and beautiful and practically perfect in every way, and the bully should hate **himself** and resent the fact that he can never be your boyfriend, because he'll never be as perfect as you. You need to believe that you're special, Blaine, believe that you aren't what they say you are, and then maybe it'll get better. It won't go away…but it might help."_

Blaine lay still, not even daring to breathe as his mouth fell open in shock and new tears sprung to his eyes, yet for a completely different reason this time.

"You think I'm beautiful?" he whispered, so softly that it was a wonder Kurt even heard him.

"_Of course I do," _Kurt said sincerely, and Blaine didn't think he'd ever felt as grateful and indebted to someone as he did then.

Kurt thought that he, Blaine Anderson, the curly haired freak, was beautiful.

That was when Blaine first knew for sure that he felt something stronger than he had ever felt before for Kurt.

"I think you're the one who's beautiful," he blurted out, but only half regretted it when he heard Kurt's soft gasp.

"_I…thank you, Blaine," _Blaine could hear Kurt's voice thicken and knew his had too, so he made the decision to stop bothering Kurt.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Kurt, you don't even know –" he sighed, cutting himself off. "I'll try. I promise I'll try to do that."

"We could meet up," Kurt said suddenly, voice rising slightly.

Blaine frowned, confused. "I thought we were. On Saturday, remember?"

"No, I mean tomorrow."

"But we have school," Blaine said simply, not sure what Kurt was getting at.

"We can skip it and meet up! You don't want to face it tomorrow and I don't have anything that's important on, so we should skip."

"Okay," Blaine answered immediately. He had never skipped a day of school before, but this was an extreme circumstance. Plus, he didn't think he'd ever turn down an opportunity to see Kurt.

"7.30 at the Lima Bean then?" Kurt asked and Blaine nodded, forgetting Kurt couldn't see him.

"Yeah, sure." The time worked in perfectly to when he left for school normally, so it wouldn't raise suspicion. The staff there saw him everyday and so wouldn't think anything strange, either.

"See you then?" Kurt asked, his voice sounded surprisingly shy.

"See you," Blaine said, his voice soft. He noted to himself that he was actually starting to _sound _like Finn when he talked about Rachel, never mind how he looked.

That was spectacular and also horrifying.

His progressing relationship and…_feelings _for Kurt were terrifying him and making him feel the greatest he ever had. It just confused him so much.

He shoved everything – Ricky, Kurt, school – to the back of his mind and relaxed completely into his duvet, curling up and sighing softly, welcoming the soft haziness that filled his mind as sleep overcame him. He knew he had to relish it before Thomas or Martha came to wake him up and it would all come flooding back.

* * *

Blaine walked into the Lima Bean, scanning the few patrons for Kurt's familiar face, but instead he found one that he definitely wasn't expecting.

"Rachel?" he exclaimed from across the small coffee shop, eyes widening in surprise. He didn't know if he was disappointed or overjoyed.

Rachel immediately looked up and smiled widely at him, waving and then beckoning him over. He hastily went, frowning as he sat down and saw a coffee cup on the table in front of him.

"Is this for me?" he asked, peering at Rachel through his frown.

"Of course! Kurt told me what you normally get so I just went ahead and bought it."

"Kurt knows my coffee order?" he said after taking a sip and finding out that yes, it was a medium drip. Rachel glared at him from across the table.

"Of course he does, silly." Blaine shrugged nonchalantly, but tried to hide his pleased smile behind his cup.

"So, Kurt told me. And I just wanted to say that I am here for you in any and all ways." She reached out a reassuring hand to clasp his own that rested on the table, and he smiled back at her, slightly confused.

"Did, um…why did Kurt not come?" he asked, trying to sound as if it didn't matter to him in the slightest. He immediately realised that this was pointless, as Rachel already thought she knew about his feelings.

Sure enough, a knowing smile came over her face. "I convinced him to let me come instead. I figured I could give you some advice today and he could do the same on Saturday or… tonight over the phone." She must have seen the slight disappointment in his face, so she immediately backed up. "I'm sorry, I know I should have let him come, you need him not me. But I just…I wanted to see you again. Is that weird?"

Blaine immediately softened as he saw Rachel doubting herself, and he moved to clasp her hand back. "Not at all. I'm really glad you came." He smiled widely at her, but she laughed, pulling her hand back.

"You lie, Blaine Anderson, you'd much rather have Kurt here." She got up suddenly, staring at him expectantly when he didn't move. "Come on, then!" she said impatiently, placing her hands on his shoulder and pulling him up.

"Where are we going?" He stopped to grab his coffee before he was ushered out the shop.

"We are going to gaze upon the youth of this world and revel in their immature hope!" she said breezily, linking her arm with Blaine's as they walked.

"That sounds like so much fun," Blaine said in monotone, but he was smiling all the same.

"I know. It's my attempt to cheer you up and help you forget about idiot guy."

"Thank you, Rachel," he said sincerely, kind of in awe of the girl who had missed a whole day of school and possibly fought Kurt's wrath just to help him feel better. Only Kurt had ever been so kind to him before.

"You're welcome! You can pay me back by joining Glee Club." She grinned slyly at him, letting out a loud laugh when he elbowed her in the side. "Alright, alright, I'll leave it for now."

They walked in a companionable silence for a while, Blaine finishing off his coffee just as they turned a corner and spotted the cutest play park he had ever seen. The tarmac below the various pieces of equipment was painted in swirls of colour, and the whole scene with only a few children climbing about on the bars radiated happiness.

Rachel had been right. For some reason it did cheer him up.

"Swings!" Rachel exclaimed, pulling him by the hand through the gates and towards the set of swings.

"Do the rest of Glee club know you're secretly a child?" Blaine teased, sitting down on the swing when she did.

"Only Kurt!" she said, starting to move her legs backwards and forwards in rhythm as she swung higher and higher. Blaine stayed still, watching her.

"You want to talk about it?" she called, trying to look at him as she moved to and fro.

"Talk about what?"

"The guy and your school," she said, slowing down so she could look at him properly. Blaine broke eye contact to stare at the ground.

"I don't know…I don't know what to say," he said honestly, fingers fiddling with the chain on the swing.

"Well, how do you feel about them knowing?"

He took a moment to answer. "I don't mind them knowing. I'm not ashamed of who I am. I do mind the bullying and the stares and everything that comes with them knowing, though. Does that make sense?"

Rachel nodded softly, her lips tight. "I see what happens to Kurt everyday and I…I wish I could stop it. I would do _anything _for him to be happy but I…it's never going to go away. The disgusting prejudice that they have."

Blaine looked at her and was surprised to find her face masked with venom, her eyes sad yet angry.

"It affects you that much?" he asked gently, sensing there was something he wasn't getting. She sighed, meeting his eyes and trying to smile.

"I have two dads. I made them tell me what their high school experiences were like and…" she took a deep breath then let it out. "Let's just say that it didn't sound like fun."

"I'm so sorry, Rachel," Blaine said, getting off the swing and moving over to hug her.

"Don't be, Blaine. The same thing is happening to you and Kurt and I…I can't do anything to stop that, either. Which is why I promise to be here for you if you ever need me to be, okay?"

Blaine smiled at her before moving back over to his own swing again.

Rachel was silent for a moment, before asking a question. "Can I hear you sing now? As a thank you?"

Blaine looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know, Rachel, I'm kind of…really insecure about my voice."

"Nonsense! You're amazing and spectacular. Now sing." A playful smile was on her face as she started to swing softly, looking away from Blaine and closing her eyes.

So Blaine did. He didn't think, he just sang, closing his eyes and forgetting Rachel was there. He concentrated on the soft breeze that caressed his bare arms and his face.

_Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound._

He opened his eyes when he finished, hearing the soft creak of Rachel's swing stop completely. He looked at her expectantly, suddenly scared that she thought he was atrocious.

"You, Blaine Anderson, really are just genuinely amazing, aren't you? I can see why Kurt likes you." Blaine frowned at her.

"You really think I'm good enough to join Glee club?" he asked tentatively, worry in his eyes.

"You're more than good enough, believe me. You could out sing any guy in Glee club. Even Finn, and it's not often I say that."

"Even Kurt?" She stopped, debating.

"You're equally as amazing. Oh my gosh, imagine the duets you could perform." She was ready to start squealing, Blaine could tell. "We need to get your audition piece ready. Any ideas?" She was now standing in front of Blaine, staring down at him with excitement.

"Um. No? But Rachel?" She stopped what she was going to say and raised her eyebrows. "Thank you. For everything."

She smiled humbly, waving her hand to brush it off. "Happy to help. Now, we need to brainstorm…"

At that point he kind of zoned out since she went on one of her Rachel rants. But she had done what she had set out to do – Blaine was feeling better and was suitably distracted.

He also couldn't wait to phone Kurt and tell him everything.


	16. Chapter 16

**Haaaaii. Thank you so much for your feedback, and WE REACHED 100 REVIEWS! *does happy dance*SkyeElf was the delightful 100th reviewer and I promised her a Furt drabble for being so amazeballs, so that'll be up sometime in the near (hopefully) future. I'm also sorry that not much happens in this one. I PROMISE the next chapter is a good one. *winks* **

Blaine walked into the home with a renewed smile plastered onto his face, so much happier since he had spent the day with Rachel. She had bid him farewell just down the road with a hug and a kiss to the cheek, causing Blaine to blush and scurry away with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

He really did like Rachel a lot.

But now all he had on his mind was telling Kurt absolutely everything that had happened with Rachel and how she had given him a new sense of hope. A hope that told him that he _could _get through this. He was better than the bullies, just like Kurt had said. Kurt _and _Rachel now were really helping him, and he could never tell them just how grateful he was.

Snapping out of his dazed reverie, Blaine noticed Martha, who was standing at the foot of the stairs he was heading to with narrowed eyes.

"Blaine," she said, her voice slightly suspicious and her tone colder than usual. He nodded his head slightly at her, an awkward smile crossing his face.

"Hey, Martha. Good day?" He stopped in front of her, shuffling from one foot to the other. He couldn't understand why she was looking at him like he had done something…_wrong. _He _never _did anything wrong.

That's when he remembered that he had skipped the whole day of school with no explanation or word that something was wrong. And that Martha had probably received a disgruntled phone call from them demanding to know where he was.

So he supposed the glare was merited.

"Mhm. And you? Good day at school?" Her tone had turned completely patronising, and her arms were crossed across her chest.

He sighed heavily, relenting under her scrutinizing glare so easily. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was upsetting Martha. She, also, had done so much for him.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled, eyes finding the floor so he didn't have to look at her disappointed face.

"Sorry? Why are you sorry?"

"BecauseIskippedschool," he spoke quickly, nervously, each word merging into the next.

"You skipped school? Ah, so _that_ explains the phone call I got at 9 this morning asking me where you were." She stood up straighter and Blaine flinched back, feeling exactly like a small child getting told off for doing the most inconsequential thing. Except he had clearly angered Martha and he really didn't want to lose her trust over this.

"I'm really sorry, Martha. I…I promise I didn't just do it out of…sheer recklessness or anything."

"Then please, enlighten me?" Blaine sighed once again; he couldn't tell her about the bullying. Or at least he _wouldn't. _She didn't need to worry about him, and he knew now that he could handle it without her input.

"I…can't. Just trust me on this one, I promise it was for a good cause. And I'll never do it again." He dared to look at her, finding her eyebrows raised and her lips clasped in a thin line. They stared at each other for a few moments, Blaine subconsciously drawing out his best puppy eyes. A moment later she sighed, loosening her posture and softening her eyes considerably.

"Fine, I'll trust you. But _do not _do it again, okay? I had to lie to your school about where you were just to cover your back." She pointed her finger in his direction, but dropped her arm down a second later. "If you want to tell me what it was for, I'm here, okay? Now, go." She turned away from him, blowing her fringe from her forehead before tearing round the corner to go help a screaming child.

Blaine paused before letting out a relieved breath, heading up the stairs in a rush to get to his phone.

He haphazardly slammed his door behind him, wincing when the loud bang reverberated around the room, and probably the whole house. The image of Martha rolling her eyes at him swam into his head, but he grabbed his phone from the desk anyway. When it lit up, it announced that he had 6 new messages. His eyebrows rose in surprise; they were all from Kurt.

_I know you know this by now, but I'm so sorry about Rachel coming instead! It wasn't planned, I swear. Text me to tell me how it's going? (8.42)_

_She better not have abducted you or forced you to sing against your will. I'm not always opposed to bodily harm. (9.25)_

_BLAINE ANSWER ME I NEED TO KNOW YOU HAVEN'T GONE INSANE. (11.06)_

_Shit, I forgot you never carry your phone on you. My bad. (12.01)_

_I really wanted to see you today. I really miss you :( (13.45)_

_Call me when you get back? I need to know how you are. (14.36)_

Blaine could feel the grin slip quickly back onto his face, as he once again collapsed on his bed (as he seemed to always do when he was on the phone to Kurt) and pressed call, clutching the phone to his ear and calming himself so as not to sound like an idiot when he spoke.

"Blaine!" Kurt answered on the second ring, and Blaine could just tell from his voice that he was smiling.

"Hey, Kurt. How was school?"

"It was the normal. Nothing…major happened. What about Rachel? Was she alright? She didn't accost you, did she?"

Blaine chuckled. "No, no. Rachel was lovely. She helped a lot, actually."

Kurt let out a relieved sigh, and Blaine heard rustling on the other end. "Thank god. I was getting worried. Sorry about the text messages, by the way. Apparently I have no memory."

"It's alright. They were amusing."

Kurt laughed. "Shh, you. Are you feeling any… better about school?"

"A little, I suppose. I'm definitely going back tomorrow."

"Then I wish you all the luck in the world. Text me or call me or something if it gets too much and you want to talk."

Blaine smiled, his eyes fluttering closed. "I will. Thank you."

"I guess that was it, then. I was just making sure you were okay. Do you want me to leave you in peace now?" Kurt's voice was hesitant, and Blaine immediately frowned, his voice rising as he started to panic.

"No, no! Of course not. I can stay and talk if you want," Blaine said tentatively, praying for Kurt to take this as what he was actually thinking:_ please stay and talk to me._

"Okay, then," Blaine rolled over onto his side, relaxing.

"Any stories to tell?"

"Um… oh! You won't believe this one! Today in Glee…"

Blaine didn't think he would ever understand why Kurt's voice made him feel so content.

* * *

"Blaine?" Blaine snapped his head up just in time to see Martha sidle in the door, an apologetic look coming onto her face when she saw that he was on the phone. He motioned to her that he'd be a second, before reluctantly muttering a rushed goodbye to Kurt. His eyes widened when he moved the phone's screen into vision, seeing the set of numbers that stated the length of his call. Apparently he had been talking to Kurt for the past hour and a half.

He didn't regret a single second.

Forcing himself back into the present, he looked up at Martha and smiled, sitting up on his bed to better talk to her. "Hey, Martha. What's up?"

"I needed to talk to you about the Hummels. Are you free? If you're not, we can just do it tomorrow," she said brightly, any resentment from the day's events gone.

"No, it's alright! Is this about how the visit went?" Martha hadn't had time to talk to Blaine properly since he came back, too busy trying to care for the other boys, around which a bad cold was spreading. Blaine had luckily not caught it yet, but the younger ones seemed to be very susceptible to it.

Martha nodded, sitting down at Blaine's desk but continuing to face him. "I'm guessing it went really well, but I just needed to check." Blaine grinned enthusiastically, hands fisting in the covers.

"It was amazing, Martha. I felt like I had a proper family for the first time in years. I loved it." His voice was filled with passion and reverence and Martha could immediately tell Blaine was completely genuine in his statement. She smiled widely at him, ecstatic that the boy she had watched grow into a young man had finally found a place where he could be happy.

"Then I guess we'll need to set up the week visit as soon as possible, right?" She smiled wider at the excitement illuminating from his golden eyes.

"Yes! I was going to ask about that. I really want to go back as quickly as I can, and they said it was okay. When would be the soonest…?" He trailed off, a hopeful yet nervous sparkle in his eye.

"Well, if you don't go skipping school again, I can try and set it up for next week? Would that be okay? I know it's short notice, but I think –"

"Yes!" Blaine almost screamed, running across the room and tackling Martha into a hug, smiling widely into her knitted cardigan.

"Woah, calm! You nearly knocked me off the chair, sweetie!" She laughed as he pulled back, muttering a half-hearted apology.

"I need to tell Kurt. Should I tell Kurt? Is that a good idea?" His face turned stricken and confused and Martha just laughed harder.

"He knows, honey. I knew you'd say yes so next week is already set up." Blaine grinned again, hopping from foot to foot. "You're reverting back into a child!"

Blaine just laughed at her, watching her as she headed to the door.

"Thank you, Martha," he said sincerely. She smiled back at him, feeling tears collect in her eyes at how happy the boy she treated like a son was.

"You're welcome. Now go call Kurt." She laughed once again as the door swung shut, knowing that Blaine had probably already grabbed his phone.

And, obviously, she was exactly right.


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm two days off the weekend, I'M CLOSE TO MY AIM OF UPDATING EVERY WEEK! Near enough. Happy October, anyway, and this is a big chapter in terms of Klaine, but not in terms of word count. I apologise about that. I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this chapter especially, but whether I do get to or not, ENJOY!**

Blaine didn't think he'd ever been as nervous as he was when he walked into school the next day. He could feel beads of sweat form on his forehead as he cautiously edged around every corner, eyes frantically searching for those familiar jackets that he loathed more than anything. Apart from maybe the guys wearing them.

To his pleasant surprise, however, he learned that Ricky wasn't gracing the halls with his presence that day. His group, losing the leader that they fed off, didn't bother Blaine as much as he'd expected. Sure, he was shoved and taunted more than once, but he had envisioned another horrifying incident like there had been on Monday.

He sent a silent prayer thanking whoever was responsible for Ricky being absent.

He also prayed that the boy had transferred school, even though he knew that was highly unlikely.

Preferably to California, but somewhere nearer would also do.

He managed to get through the day only because of this small grace awarded to him, though he stayed vigilant. But he had to be that way everyday, he supposed it was nothing unfamiliar.

He even managed to walk home, the clear blue sky shining above him, with a small smile on his face.

That was mainly because Kurt was coming to visit a little later on, and the thought of spending time with Kurt never failed to make him smile. It was always his full-proof plan to feel better.

He rushed his homework, hoping that it would speed up time. It didn't, obviously, and he was left sitting at his desk with his packed bag ready for tomorrow sitting in front of him. God, he was bored. It was still another hour before Kurt came – he had to stay behind for an extra Glee club meeting – and he had nothing to do.

He decided to go see Thomas, purely because he couldn't think of anything else to do. He wandered downstairs, face impassive and eyes searching for the familiar brown haired boy.

He found him almost immediately – he was curled up on the sofa with his eyes shut. Blaine sighed, dejected. He wasn't going to be evil and wake him up; he looked like he needed some sleep.

Turning around and resigning himself to the fact that he was just going to have to sit in his room and stare at the walls for an hour, he heard his name being shouted from the kitchen.

He walked in, a frown on his face. As bored as he was, he really wasn't in the mood for dealing with the boys at dinnertime.

Though as Martha smiled at him from in front of the oven, he knew that was exactly what he was going to have to do.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Blaine shouted from the dining room as the doorbell chimed. He patted the head of one of the boys sitting at the table and left the room, heading to the door and wiping his hands on his old joggers, leaving a trail of pasta sauce. His hair was dishevelled and from the heat radiating from his face, he knew that he was flushed a dark shade of beetroot. That was partly from his anger at one of the twins starting a food fight, and partly because it was goddamn boiling in the house.

Blaine threw the door open, his face impassive, expecting another saleswoman or someone else as equally unimportant.

He was horrified to find Kurt standing there instead, a grin on his face and his sapphire eyes alight.

"Kurt?" he exclaimed, a hand coming up to try and flatten his unruly curls, but to no avail.

"You forgot, didn't you," Kurt said playfully, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, no, of course not! I just got a bit sidetracked," he said, his words coming out swiftly and panicky.

"Cooking?" Kurt said, eyeing Blaine's thigh, which was stained orange. Blaine looked down and smiled sheepishly before standing back from the door and motioning for Kurt to come in.

"I should change," Blaine said, eyes darting from the staircase he so desperately wanted to bolt up, back to Kurt's amused face.

"I'll wait here," Kurt said, taking a seat on the bench he so often sat on. Blaine stared at him for a moment, eyes widening in surprise when the soft light from the nearby window shadowed Kurt's face, hiding his features but making his profile far more prominent and striking than Blaine had ever seen. He took a shaky breath and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time.

Damn Kurt and his attractiveness. It didn't do anything to help Blaine's – now very clear – feelings for him.

He looked in the mirror and wanted to sink into the ground when he realised just how bad he looked. His hair was sticking up _everywhere, _his top was hanging unevenly over his shoulders, and he actually had more than one stain on his joggers.

He changed quickly into a shirt, bowtie and jeans, patting down his hair until it lay in a somewhat passable style.

He stopped off at the bathroom, splashing water onto his red face and praying it would calm the colour down. It did, partly, so he allowed himself to return downstairs to Kurt.

He found him in the same position, but talking to Martha quietly. He blatantly ignored (or tried to) the feelings he got when he looked at Kurt and saw his pure, unadulterated beauty, and instead focused on Martha.

They both turned to look at him, smiling a similar smile and making Blaine suspicious.

"I'll leave you two to it then! Have fun!" Martha winked it him on the way back to the living room, and Blaine frowned, reluctantly looking at Kurt.

"What was that about?" Kurt smiled, getting up and brushing his (unfairly skinny) jeans down.

"Nothing much. Just your upcoming visit!" Blaine eyed him suspiciously, but Kurt only smiled cheerily back. He bounded towards him, linking their arms and pulling them towards the back of the house. Blaine flushed, secretly pleased at the physical contact.

"Where are we going, Mr. Hummel?" he asked playfully, contuining to be dragged through the house.

"Outside, Master Anderson. There's a beautiful sunset and I refuse to stay inside this stuffy house when we could be watching it."

Blaine smiled shyly to himself, his mind swirling off into the realms of 'watching a sunset is romantic' before he quickly reined himself in.

Platonic. Brothers. Damnit.

They were suddenly standing at the back door of the house (he hadn't known that Kurt even knew where the door was) and he turned to him, bright eyes alight with excitement. "Keys?" he questioned. Blaine shook his head, feeling his insides turn to mush as he met Kurt's gaze.

Why had his feelings suddenly grown so much to the point where he couldn't even act like a normal human being?

"It's already open," he said simply, reaching out and turning the handle, staring at Kurt as the boy watched the door swing open in surprise.

"Oh!" Kurt took one look at him, eyes darting to the floor almost immediately before he quickly grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him outside.

That was when Blaine's heart started beating erratically. He was pretty sure it stayed that way for the duration of Kurt's visit.

"You have the perfect view!" Kurt exclaimed, head titled towards the sky to the west where the sun was hanging low in the sky, partly obscured by the orange-tinted cotton clouds.

Blaine once again allowed himself to stare at Kurt, and he slowly smiled when he saw how truly delighted he was by such a simply thing as the sunset.

"You're beautiful," he whispered as softly as he could, hazel eyes wide in wonder. Unfortunately, his 'softly' wasn't soft enough, and Kurt turned away from the sunset to look at Blaine in surprise.

Blaine looked away in embarrassment, cursing himself. He literally couldn't keep his mouth shut around Kurt, and it was definitely becoming a problem.

He missed the moment when Kurt's look of confusion turned to one of determination.

"We could lie down and watch it if you wanted?" Kurt asked tentatively, and Blaine turned back to him in surprise.

"Okay," he said hesitantly, and watched as Kurt lay back on the grass, staring up at Blaine with a small, hesitant smile on his face. Blaine smiled back before joining him, being careful to leave some space between their bodies so as not to encroach on Kurt's territory.

The moment he settled, though, Kurt took a small breath and shuffled towards him, pressing their sides together so that Blaine could feel Kurt's body heat radiating from him, the pressure a soft reassurance. He snuck a look at Kurt, wondering for the life of him what he was doing, but Kurt was just staring up at the multi-coloured sky, mouth slightly parted.

"Do you do this a lot?" Blaine whispered.

"I suppose. It's my favourite time of day. When the clouds are just right, it can be so beautiful. I find it quite… bittersweet? Ending the day with the most beautiful, natural sight. No matter how bad your day's been, there's still the hope of the sunset being gorgeous. It just makes me feel better, I suppose."

Blaine wasn't staring at the sunset anymore. Why would he stare at the sunset when there was something so much more beautiful so close to him?

"It takes my breath away," Kurt finished, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

_You take my breath away._

He can't stop staring. He cannot look away from the way Kurt's pale, soft skin radiates in the hazy orange light, letting out more beauty than any movement of the sun ever could.

His breath catches in his throat when Kurt turns his head around to meet his wide eyes.

"There's only one thing I like more than sunsets," Kurt says softly as he stares deep into Blaine's eyes. Kurt shifts himself so he's lying on his side, face only inches away from Blaine's.

"Musicals?" Blaine stutters out, drowning in the sea that is Kurt's eyes.

"Nuh uh," Kurt breathes out, eyes flickering down to Blaine's parted lips, from which shaky breaths were only just managing to come out.

"Then what?" Blaine said, so quietly he could barely hear it himself. He let his own eyes settle on Kurt's lips for a moment before reluctantly raising them again.

"You." Blaine's eyes flicker shut as Kurt's lips meet his own in a soft, innocent kiss. It only lasts a second before Kurt pulls away, but Blaine involuntarily chases the perfect pressure, wanting, _needing _it to last longer. Kurt's soft chuckle sends puffs of air directly on to his lips and Blaine gives in, pushing down his nerves and connecting their lips again, taking Kurt by surprise. Neither had any experience and so they started off tentatively and cautiously, but soon Blaine had turned on to his side so as to better position his neck, and Kurt's hand curled around Blaine's back, pulling him closer as their lips moved together in a timid dance.

"What're we doing?" Blaine pulled back a moment later, resting his forehead against Kurt's while he tried to calm his erratic breaths.

"I have no idea," Kurt answered truthfully, eyes fluttering closed again and the hand that was clutching Blaine's back moving to caress his cheek, fingers skimming over his cheekbones and palm creating a steady pressure.

"Should we stop?" Blaine said reluctantly, wondering if it was possible to melt under Kurt's tender touch.

"Please, no," Kurt replied almost immediately, pulling Blaine in again until their lips met. The soft oranges of the sky faded to a blue hue, the sun sinking below the skyline as their bodies melted together, limbs tangling and pressing closer, closer until there was no space left, no air, nothing to separate them any longer as their hearts slowly faded into the same stuttery, fluttering staccato beat.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sooooo I was going to write a minor slice of angst in this chapter, but after that horrifically heart crushing episode, I couldn't bring myself to. Waaaay too much pain already. SO nothing big happens in this chapter, just some boy lovin', but I hope you can all forgive me since fluff is better than angst at this point? I also didn't make my weekend aim, but I'm using exams as an excuse. Next week's will be on Tuesday or Wednesday, since I'm off to London at the weekend. ANYWAY, onwards! Oh no, wait! THANK YOU for the response to the last chapter. I'm so glad you liked it, and I hope you like this just as much!**

Blaine pulled back from Kurt, their lips reluctantly breaking from the soft heat of the other's, and Blaine let out a soft sigh, the timid breath soothing Kurt's flushed face. He dared open his eyes again, only just stopping a gasp from escaping him when he saw Kurt's bright red and slightly swollen lips. _He _had been the cause of that.

A bright and loving smile covered his face and his hand moved to softly brush a stray strand of hair from Kurt's pearlescent forehead.

"You really are beautiful," he reinstated, except this time he could look into Kurt's ocean blue eyes and not be afraid that he was saying something wrong. The other boy leaned back in to place a chaste peck to his tingling lips, nudging his cheek with his nose playfully before moving away.

"You're beautifuller," Kurt said, a slow smile stretching over his face. Blaine rolled his eyes affectionately, lying back down on his back to gaze up at the sky.

"You know that's not a word, silly." The stars were beginning to come out – he hadn't realised just how long they had been kissing, wrapped up in each other's arms and engrossed by the feeling of each other's heartbeats and the way their lips danced together in perfect harmony, and it seemed they had lost track of time completely.

Blaine didn't notice Kurt turning back over, mirroring his position and also staring up into the dark blue night.

"They shine so bright," Kurt said, awe struck, raising a hand to map out lines between the shimmering beacons of light.

"They remind me of someone I know," Blaine whispered into the soft breeze that blew through the stars, caressing them with each gusty tremor. He interlaced their hands together, the firm pad of his thumb running a steady line over Kurt's soft skin, an ever present force that grounded Kurt's mind before it flew up to dance with the moon.

"You came out of a Disney movie, you know that? Prince Charming himself."

Blaine chuckled affectionately, resting his head lightly on Kurt's shoulder. "I try, I try."

Blaine shivered slightly as the trees rustled in answer to the wind, and he curled himself more into Kurt's side, relishing in the comforting heat he gave off.

"You want to go inside?" Kurt said, curling his arm around Blaine's torso and rubbing his back to try and warm him up.

"But I wanna see the stars," he drawled, nuzzling into Kurt's jumper. Kurt looked across to the dark mop of hair resting on him, and smiled widely.

"Come on. We can see the stars another night." He gently nudged Blaine off him, trying not to cave in and stay there for the rest of forever like he wanted to as Blaine clutched at him petulantly.

The other boy eventually gave in and got up, arms folding around himself to regain some heat. "'m tired, Kurt," he mumbled, leaning into the other boy as they walked back towards the house. Kurt opened the door for Blaine, gently pushing him through before closing it behind him, slightly worried by the fact that it wasn't locked but too eager to spend more time alone with Blaine to actually care. Blaine led the way through the house dazedly, not really understanding why he was suddenly so exhausted. Maybe unparalleled happiness had that effect on him.

They reached Blaine's bedroom door just as Ahmad, Blaine's other roommate, exited the room. The Asian boy's eyes flickered from Blaine to Kurt before his lips turned up in a sneer. He looked like he was about to say something, but instead he walked away with no sound. Kurt turned to Blaine in confusion, a worried frown on his face.

They walked into the room in silence, but the moment the door was closed Kurt shattered the serenity.

"Why the hell did he give us that look?" Kurt said, his tone agitated and clipped. Blaine sat down on his bed and looked at him blankly before waving his hand in dismissal.

"That was Ahmed, don't mind him." He ran a hand through his tousled curls, before smiling innocently up at Kurt.

"But…that look he just gave us. Is he homophobic? Because if he is, you have got to change rooms because I'm not having you live with a homophobic assh –"

"Kurt! Calm down," he soothed, rising off the bed momentarily to grab Kurt's hands and pull the boy to stand in front of him. He looked up at him brightly, his smile wide and his eyes alight. "He doesn't even know I'm gay."

Kurt stared at him for a few moments. "We were kissing outside for about half an hour," he stated bluntly.

"How could he have – oh. Oops." Realisation covered his face but it didn't seem to dampen his mood. "Guess we should have thought about that." He paused for a moment before pulling Kurt down on the bed with him. "Just forget about him, okay? Don't we have some…stuff to talk about instead?" Blaine kept their hands linked, resting them on Kurt's thighs. Kurt's face was blank. "Stuff about us, I mean."

"Oh! Sure." Kurt waited for Blaine to start.

"Well… I kind of wanted to know what we are now. Are we…boyfriends? I mean, if that's not what you want it's totally fine, but I was just wondering…" he trailed off, looking sheepishly down at their hands.

"Yes," Kurt stated simply, mouth curving up in an excited smile.

"…yes?" Blaine's eyebrows rose in disbelief.

"I want to. I want to be your boyfriend, I mean. I really, really – " Blaine cut him off with a rough kiss to the lips before wrapping his arms around the startled boy and hugging him tightly. A loud laugh bubbled up in Kurt's throat as he clutched Blaine firmly and wondered if he would ever find the strength to let go. Blaine made that decision for him however, when he pulled back slightly, his face just inches from Kurt's and his arms still holding him at the waist.

Kurt's smile dropped as Blaine licked his lips, and Blaine watched as Kurt's eyes flickered from his own bright golden ones to his dampened mouth.

Blaine crushed their lips together again, this kiss not as careful and timid as before, but more needy and desperate. Tiredness forgotten, Blaine pressed more weight onto Kurt, forcing the boy to lie down on the bed, and Blaine positioned himself over him, their torsos moulding together as well as their lips. Blaine moaned as he felt hands clutch at his hair and lower back, moving his own to frame Kurt's face. Their lips moved together in a strangely practiced motion, the basics of the act coming easy to them and the rest they started to teach each other.

After a few more minutes of those same needy yet predominately chaste kisses, Kurt experimented by parting his lips slightly, forcing Blaine to do the same. They let out a raggedy breath simultaneously, Blaine's hands moving to grip Kurt's waist in a gentle yet firm hold. When Blaine started gently sucking on Kurt's lower lip however, the pale boy couldn't help but arch up off the bed, wanting more from Blaine but not knowing what yet.

It was when Kurt's moist tongue darted across Blaine's bottom lip and both hands came to grasp at Blaine's curly hair that the other boy lost control and rolled his hips down to meet Kurt's, lips roughly parting and head falling to the pillow.

"Blaine?" Kurt whispered brokenly, turning his head to look at the other boy.

"Uh huh?" he mumbled into the pillow, body rising and falling in time with his deep and erratic breaths.

"We should probably stop," Kurt said, half regretting it but knowing that he wasn't near ready to go past kissing yet. He had his first (proper) kiss a mere _hour _ago, for crying out loud.

"I know." He raised his head from the pillow and placed a soft kiss to Kurt's jaw line, but still not freeing the other boy that was still under him. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly, but Kurt could only chuckle.

"It was as much my doing as yours. And anyway, I liked it, I just…"

"I know," Blaine smiled, staring down at him with wonder in his eyes. How could everything have changed so quickly? His smile widened as his brain careered back to… when was it? Weeks ago? Months? "Do you remember when you forced me to play 20 Questions?" Kurt also smiled at the memory.

"I did not _force _you, Bowtie."

Blaine sighed dramatically, resting his chin on Kurt's chest and never once breaking eye contact. His fingers ran lightly over Kurt's hipbones through the thick material of his jumper. "I will never forget poor Rapunzel the Unicorn."

Kurt's mouth opened in surprise before he swatted at Blaine. "I thought you'd forgotten about that!"

"Never!" Blaine sang, a delighted grin lighting up his features and crinkling his eyes shut.

"Meany."

Blaine stayed silent for a moment, eyes closing contentedly, breath ghosting along Kurt's chin. "That was the time when you said I was your best friend."

"You were. You _are._" Blaine nuzzled into Kurt's chest.

"You too, Kurt."

"Boys, Kurt's going to need to – oh! I'm so sorry!" Blaine's head shot up as fast as lightning when he heard Martha's voice, the shock making him involuntarily roll off Kurt and onto the floor with a yelp. Both boys stared at her with a mixture of shock and panic painted clearly on their faces.

Martha, however, was just trying to not to grin.

"I was just saying that it's getting late, I'm sure Burt would appreciate it if Kurt went home now."

"O-okay, Martha," Kurt stuttered out, moving into a sitting position and staring purposely at the back of Blaine's head to avoid eye contact.

"I can drive you, if you want. I actually have back-up staff tonight."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Kurt said, forcing a smile onto his face.

Martha shot Blaine an amused 'We'll talk about this later' look before walking out the room, leaving the door wide open behind her. Blaine sighed dejectedly and turned to look at Kurt. The boy was standing above him, and so he got up, still an inch or two shorter.

"I guess I'll see you later?" Kurt said questioningly, one eyebrow raised.

"Of course," Blaine replied. Kurt leaned forward and placed a last, sweet, lingering kiss on Blaine's lips then to the tip of his nose, hands lingering to caress his cheeks, before walking towards the door.

He turned around a final time, grinning beautifully, and said, "Goodnight, boyfriend." And with that, he was gone.

Boyfriend.

_Boyfriend._

_I am so in love with you._


	19. Chapter 19

**Hai! I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy the last chapter. I kind of needed to ask a question on whether the pacing seems okay in the story, though. I'd love to hear what you guys think on that, because I don't know if it's maybe a bit slow? Or is it fine? This chapter sort of speeds it up a bit, but your comments will help with the new pacing. Not a definitive end to this one, but I hope it stills works. And I know they haven't talked about the whole 'brothers' thing yet, but that'll be soon. Thank yaaa!**

Blaine could do nothing but lie on his bed for the next half hour, glistening eyes fixed on the monotonous expanse of ceiling above him, mind whirring and desperately trying to put the events of the evening into perspective: he had a boyfriend. Not only that, but it was _Kurt. _And the final and most important (and terrifying) thing: there was a distinct chance that he loved him. Or at least, this was what he _supposed _love felt like. He didn't have any basis to pronounce that on, but he needed Kurt more than anything. All he wanted was for the beautiful boy to be happy and live his dreams, and he would do anything to protect him from harm. To him, what he felt was love.

Trying to process all this information at once wasn't the easiest thing to do, and when he finally let out a huge breath, he was surprised to find a stray tear rolling down his cheek. He wiped it away, letting out a soft chuckle.

He was definitely insane.

Or again, maybe that was love.

He was just in the process of hauling himself from the bed when Martha emerged through the door. Blaine smiled at her widely and she stared at him for a moment before letting out a loud laugh.

"What is it?" Blaine asked, rooting through his drawer to find pyjamas.

"You! Him! It's adorable!" She let out a loud squeal as if she were a teenager again, and ruffled Blaine's hair with a loving expression plastered onto her face. Blaine blushed ferociously, turning away and laying his pyjamas on the bed, taking more time than he needed so he could hide his red face.

"I'm happy," he stated simply, before being involuntarily spun around to face her. Martha placed her hands on his cheeks and stared into his eyes.

"And I'm so happy for you, darling," she said, collecting him up into a hug. He breathed in her familiar smell, closing his eyes. He felt so relaxed and happy; he didn't quite know how to deal with it. It wasn't something he was used to.

"I saw you two through the kitchen window," she said slyly, pulling back from him and raising her eyebrows in accusation. Blaine blushed again, staring down at his feet like they were the most interesting things on the earth. He hummed at her in question, even though he knew plain well what she was implying.

"Promise me you'll be safe," she said after a moment's silence, before clutching her stomach as waves of laughter rippled through her.

Blaine stared at her, far from amused, before gently steering her out the room.

"For being a middle aged woman, you really are a child," he said, darting in to place a quick kiss to her cheek before closing the door behind her, her indignant shouts at his comment on her age fading slightly as the door clicked shut.

Blaine smiled to himself. Martha's openness and how she could joke around was one of the things he loved most about her.

While he slipped his pyjamas on, he realised for the first time that there _was _actually something that he'd miss about the home he'd grown to loathe. He supposed he had taken Martha for granted, but he really would've been lost without her during the seven years he'd stayed here. She would always be a sort of surrogate mother to him, and he was forever grateful.

But he had the Hummels now. Not that they could replace her, but it was a new chapter in his life. Well, if they went through with the adoption. He still thought it was too good to be true, but he could keep hoping.

He wouldn't let Kurt go now, at least. He _couldn't. _

He walked out his bedroom door, heading to the bathroom at the end of the long hallway that was lined with many identical doors. He brushed his teeth under the bright fluorescent lights quickly and without care, but he stopped to look at himself in the mirror out of curiosity. He stared into it intently, searching the hazel eyes that peered back at him for some sort of change. But he could find nothing different in the familiar orbs. Maybe he looked happier. He couldn't really tell. All he knew was that he _felt _different.

He sighed quietly to himself, giving up on his examination and walking back to his room, the spring still in his step.

He was surprised to find Ahmed lying on the bed in the corner, on top of the duvet, eyes closed. It was unusual for the other boy to be in bed before him, even though he was slightly younger, much less actually asleep.

Blaine sat on his bed, ready to slip under the covers and fall into dreams of Kurt, but suddenly Ahmed was sitting upright and staring at him intently, eyebrows furrowed.

This unnerved Blaine slightly, since he could count the number of times the boy had acknowledged him before on one hand. He nodded politely at him, smiling awkwardly, before starting to crawl under the covers.

"How do you do it?" Ahmed's voice rang out through the silence, and Blaine turned back to look at him, confused.

"I…don't know what you mean," he said, feeling slightly intimidated by the strength and sureness of Ahmed's voice. And, of course, the fact that he had no idea what he was talking about also contributed to his anxiety.

"You. That boy. How could you do what you were doing without feeling disgusted with yourselves?" Ahmed's face remained impassive, as if he didn't know that this one sentence had hit Blaine's confidence and happiness like a freight train.

He blanched, not knowing what to say to that, but tears immediately sprung to his eyes.

He had expected this, yes. The hate was always going to come eventually, he knew that. But from someone in his own _home? _That wasn't something he had dared to think about.

He braced himself visibly, shoulders rising as he forced the tears back. A mask settled over his face, so different from the exuberant happiness that had been there a moment before.

"Because what we're doing is not disgusting. It's right. It's natural," he said brazenly, his voice somehow unwavering.

Ahmed scoffed, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed and a humourless smile on his face.

"I hate to break it to you, _Blaine, _but being gay is not _normal _or _acceptable._" Before Blaine could fight back, anger boiling in his veins, the boy continued his attack. "If you, for some crazy reason, choose to be gay, at least don't parade around like it's something to be _proud _of."

Blaine snapped, flying off the bed and moving to stand in front of Ahmed without even realising it. "It's not something you _choose, _you complete idiot. That's not what being gay is. You think that we would _choose _to have ignoramuses like you come up to us and insult our 'decision'? _No. _I chose to be gay as much as you chose to be dumb. If you want to refuse me happiness, please, don't tell me about it. Because it's just going to make me angry. If you would leave me in peace and not talk to me again, that would be great." With that, he thundered across the room and underneath the covers, pulling the sheets up over his head to try and block out Ahmed's comments that flew around his head. Tears started falling, dampening the pillow as he screwed his eyes shut.

"It's wrong." A soft comment came from across the room, and it took all Blaine had not to punch the wall.

He tossed and turned all night, his eyes bright red by morning from crying. He doubted if he even slept at all.

* * *

"Now, you're going to have to make a good impression on everyone, and the first and most obvious – and easiest – way to do that is your clothing. So just let me pack for you and then plan your outfits everyday for school, and we'll be fine! Okay? Blaine? Come on, you need to at least _act _like you're listening." Kurt walked over to where Blaine sat on his bed, staring off into space with a worried look in his eyes.

It was the Sunday after Ahmed had spoken to Blaine, and he wasn't sure if he had felt okay since.

"Blaine? Honey, you look exhausted. Have you not been sleeping?" Kurt placed a gentle hand on Blaine's cheek, caressing it lightly. He tried to read Blaine's expression, but his face was desolate. It was the opposite of the Blaine he knew. The boy leaned into his touch, closing his eyes and letting out a soft breath through his nose. He shook his head gently into Kurt's hand and Kurt's face crumpled. "How not? Are you ill?" Blaine's eyes fluttered open again and he stared brokenly at Kurt.

"'m'not ill," he slurred, voice weak. He vaguely noted the term of endearment that slipped so easily from Kurt's lips.

"Then what's wrong?"

Blaine sighed deeply, lazily placing his hand over Kurt's. "Ahmed said something to me after you left." Kurt's face darkened immediately, his hand coming up to rest protectively on Blaine's knee.

"I _knew _it. The way he looked at us…I _knew _he was a homophobe. Have you told Martha? If you haven't, we need to go tell her, come on."

"No, Kurt," Blaine said softly. "It's pointless. I'll hopefully never see him again if I move in with you."

Kurt relented after a moment with a deep sigh, kneeling back down in front of Blaine. "Fine. But if he says another word to you, you have to tell her, okay? And there's no _if_ you move in with us. You will, unless you don't want to." Blaine nodded, smiling sadly at Kurt.

He didn't know why he had let Ahmed's words affect him so much. It was like he couldn't stop them from crushing his spirits and making him feel like crap. He had managed to avoid the boy for the most part, but it felt like he was always staring at him, judging him. He felt uncomfortable in his own home.

School hadn't been a relief – Ricky had returned soon enough and the group was back to humiliating him and hurting him every day. He felt like the harsh bruises that littered his back would never fade.

He hadn't even let himself get excited about the upcoming visit to the Hummel's house, the thoughts too polluted with worries over the bullies at Kurt's school, because with the weeklong visit also came the introduction to McKinley.

But Kurt was here now. Kurt could always help.

"He really got to you, huh?" Kurt asked, leaning in to engulf Blaine in his arms, still kneeling on the floor. Blaine melted into his touch willingly, visibly relaxing and letting out a deep breath it seemed he had been holding for the past few days. He didn't bother to answer Kurt, sure his silence would speak for itself.

When Kurt pulled back, Blaine dived in and connected their lips, bringing his hands up to hold Kurt's cheeks solidly. Kurt was slightly taken aback at the suddenness, but gave in to him, letting the curly haired boy's lips guide his own. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but Blaine had tears running down his cheeks by the time their lips broke away.

"Blaine…" Kurt started, before trailing off as Blaine's mouth parted, as if he was about to say something. He paused for a moment, eyes flickering to the floor before coming up to resolutely stare into Kurt's own.

"I need you so much, you don't…you can't leave me, Kurt, please, never -" His hands almost grappled at Kurt's cheeks, clutching him, pulling him closer, holding onto him like a lifeline.

"Shh, shh, I'm here," Kurt reassured his boyfriend, pulling him close again and kissing the individual tears that ran down his cheeks away. Blaine's eyes slid shut as he tried to fully concentrate on Kurt, blocking out his fears and worries that had suddenly settled over him like a dark cloud. He didn't know why Ahmed's words had given him doubts about everything else, but they were there and he needed to be comforted.

Once Kurt had finished kissing the droplets away, he moved to gently press his lips to Blaine's eyelids, before placing a last, soft kiss onto his slightly parted lips. Blaine's lips tried to follow as he pulled back, but their foreheads met instead, and Kurt followed Blaine's lead and closed his eyes.

"I will never leave you," he said purposely, fisting his hands in Blaine's hair. "And it will all be okay, I promise."

Blaine gave the softest of nods in return.

He had already proven to himself that he couldn't deal with much without breaking down.

He just hoped Kurt was right.

He _needed _Kurt to be right.


	20. Chapter 20

**I actually don't have anything to ramble on about today. Onto Blaine's first day at school!**

Blaine was woken up the next day by a soft hand caressing his cheek. Even in his groggy, half asleep state, he knew that the hand belonged to Kurt. He smiled softly, nudging his head up into the touch, hearing a soft chuckle from above him.

"Open your eyes, silly," Kurt says fondly, eyes fully focused on Blaine's that were trying to appear from under his eyelids as he blinked them open sleepily. Blaine raised a hand and placed it onto the back of Kurt's neck, applying a soft pressure so as Kurt would get the message and just _kiss _him already. Kurt laughed again, grabbing Blaine's hand and shoving it away.

"My dad could walk in, Blaine, no," he said affectionately, and Blaine whined in protest. "Come on, lazy. School time!" This time he groaned, rolling over and burying his head in the pillow.

"Why, Kurt? Why do you torture me?"

"Not my fault!" Kurt said, laying the clothes he'd picked out last night on top of Blaine's feet at the end of the bed.

"Don't wanna. Karofsky and death," Blaine mumbled into the pillow, and Kurt walked back over to him, frowning. He stroked a hand through his dishevelled curls, trying to offer some comfort.

"It'll be fine, I promise," he said. He was going to do anything and everything to protect Blaine, and he had managed to get the whole Glee club in agreement that they would look after him.

It didn't mean he was 100% safe, but it was a start, at least.

"Fine," Blaine said, giving in and freeing himself from his cocoon of bed covers. Before he raised himself from the bed, he placed a chaste kiss to Kurt's unassuming lips, chuckling as Kurt stared after him in amusement.

"I'm meant to be changing, Kurt," Blaine said, pointing at his clothes and prompting Kurt to flush a light shade of red and get up from the bed ungracefully.

"I'll leave you to that, then," he said, giving him one last awkward smile before heading out the room.

Blaine smiled as he saw what his boyfriend had laid out for him to wear – his dark jeans, turned up at the bottom, a bright red shirt, and the shoes Kurt had bought him what seems like ages ago.

While he's changing, he thinks back to his arrival last night.

His strange, needy mood had made him almost cling to Kurt, not moving more than a foot from him until he was safely tucked up in bed. He had felt vulnerable and exhausted, and Kurt had helped him, comforted him, and thankfully didn't bring up Ahmed again.

He wasn't sure if any of the Hummels had thought his mood strange – he had been too tired to notice. It hadn't taken him long to ask if he could go up to bed; he had nearly fallen asleep on the sofa, curled into Kurt's side. Kurt had had to elbow him a few times to prevent his head from falling to rest on his shoulder.

Kurt had asked if he could go upstairs too, and followed Blaine into his room. They hadn't talked for long, too worried that Burt would intrude and catch them holding hands. All Blaine had wanted was to curl up next to Kurt on the bed, and he had hazily asked if they could do so. His sleep-addled brain was apparently clingy and didn't have any boundaries. Kurt had just smiled at him, though, laying him down on the bed and pressing a lingering kiss to his forehead.

That was the last thing he remembered before he had been swept off into a deep sleep.

He certainly hadn't minded the wake up Kurt had given him, but his stomach had still tightened into knots when school was mentioned. He was absolutely terrified, not only because of the bullies but because it was his _first day _at a completely new school. He was going to have to try and integrate himself into it, when after this week, he didn't even know when he was coming back.

He didn't know if he could even eat breakfast without throwing up.

He purposely took ages to make his bed – so long that Kurt came back up to get him.

"What's taking you so long?" He asked, leaning against the door with an incredulous look on his face. Blaine pointed at the bed, before sighing and following him out the door.

He was doomed.

* * *

"Please, Kurt! We can just stay off, no one will notice, please," Blaine said desperately as they neared the school gates. He felt like every student's eyes were on him, and they weren't even in the grounds yet.

"Blaine," Kurt turned to him, stopping him in his tracks, resting his hands on his shoulders and staring into his eyes resolutely. "You'll be fine. Everyone will love you just as much as I do, and Karofsky might not even notice you're here. Calm down, okay?"

Blaine's heart skipped a beat, and he gave Kurt a small nod. They walked on in silence, and Blaine's breath hitched when their hands ever so slightly brushed against each other.

"I'm really nervous," Blaine whispered, finally reaching the school steps and reluctantly making his way up them. His light brown messenger bag only contained a few pencils and pens, since he suspected that the school would supply him with anything else he needed.

Kurt smiled at him and patted his shoulder in reassurance, leading him through the foreign corridors. Blaine was used to the noise of students, the brush of their shoulders against his, but he found himself more jumpy today. He had only changed schools once, and that was when he first moved to the care home after his parents died. It hadn't gone well at all that time, and he feared that it would be the same this time round.

But he had Kurt now. And Rachel and Mercedes.

They reached Kurt's locker, and Blaine stood next to his boyfriend obediently as he began to transfer books into his bag.

"You have registration with me, right? Then we don't see each other until lunch." He frowned as Blaine paled once more, slamming his locker shut. "I told you, you'll be _fine. _Just be yourself." He looked around hesitantly before softly pushing Blaine's glasses back up his nose. The colour returned to his face as he blushed, shyly looking down at the floor.

"You're amazing," Kurt mouthed at him, before taking his arm to lead him to registration.

Maybe he could do this after all.

* * *

Blaine scanned the crowded lunch hall, heart beating fast and eyes frantically searching for Kurt. He said he'd be here. Oh god, what if he couldn't find him and had to sit alone?

"Blaine?" a familiar voice said from behind him and he turned, eyes lighting up and a grin spreading across his face when he saw Kurt standing there.

"Thank god, I thought I wasn't going to find you," Blaine said, taking a step towards him and having to remind himself that hugging Kurt probably wasn't the best idea.

"Did your classes go okay?" Kurt asked, lightly steering him towards a table in the far corner of the room. Blaine could see Rachel and Mercedes and a hoard of other people he'd never seen before sitting at the table, chatting animatedly.

"They did, actually. I have Sam in my English class, Rachel in my Biology class, and in the others I kind of just sat there on my own. But it wasn't too bad."

"Wait a minute. You know Sam?" Kurt asked when they finally reached the table, sitting on one of the two seats that Rachel must have kept for them. Blaine waved at the occupants as a chorus of hellos rushed to them, following Kurt's lead and sitting down.

"Yeah. He came to the care home with Martha once." Kurt let out a soft 'oh' of realisation.

"I always forget that he's her son." Blaine nodded in agreement.

"I didn't even know until not that long ago."

"Blaine! How are you? I haven't seen you in ages!" Mercedes said to Blaine, sitting in the seat opposite him. He smiled at her, glad she was still as friendly to him as she had been when he first met her.

"I'm alright. You?" he said back to her, but before she could answer, an intimidating boy with a mohawk cut in.

"Who are you, dude?"

Blaine stuttered for a second, looking to Kurt for reassurance, but Kurt was smiling in amusement and picking at his sandwich.

"I'm Blaine," he said simply. He watched as Puck seemed to realise.

"Kurt's plaything! I knew he said something about you showing up here."

"Puck! He's not my _plaything._"

"New brother, Puck," Finn came up behind them, sitting beside Blaine and giving him a clap on the back. "Hey, man. Like McKinley so far?"

"I do. Much more than my school."

"Really?" Finn said, starting to tear into his own sandwich with vehemence. "How so?" he managed to get out through his bites.

Blaine looked at Kurt for a second, exchanging a look with him, before answering. "It's just better, I suppose."

"Well, you're here now! That's all that matters!" Rachel said from around Finn, grasping onto the boy's shoulder.

Blaine beamed at her, starting to pick at his own lunch that he had just bought.

"Does anyone know what we're doing in Glee Club today?" an Asian girl with long, dark hair asked from further down the table. The boy sitting next to her suddenly kissed her cheek lightly, and Blaine worked out from Kurt's earlier descriptions that they must be Tina and Mike. Long standing couple of Glee club.

They had the kind of relationship that Blaine admired and wanted so desperately. But now he had that chance.

He randomly smiled affectionately at Kurt, and the boy frowned at him, but smiled back.

"Didn't Mr Schue say we were working on our choreography?" Blaine looked up to see a pretty blond girl look round the table for an answer.

"That's Quinn," Kurt whispered to him. He nodded in understanding.

"We can only pray. If we sing that stupid song one more time, I will not be afraid to walk out that room in protest," a gorgeous Latina girl said with reverence.

Blaine notices for the first time that she was clutching the blonde girl's hand who was sitting beside her. They surely weren't together, were they?

He looked at Kurt questioningly and Kurt, realising immediately what Blaine wanted to know, nodded ever so slightly. Blaine's eyes widened in surprise.

There was actually an out lesbian couple here?

"And I'll follow you," the blonde girl with the high ponytail said, smiling at the other fondly.

It was certainly a shock to Blaine's system.

"Blaine and I are going to go the bathroom. We'll see you guys in Glee club, yeah?" Kurt suddenly stood up from his seat, addressing the whole group.

They was a chorus of byes and Blaine was sure he heard the Latina girl say 'wanky'. He frowned to himself, saying goodbye to the group before following Kurt.

"So, why are we going to the bathrooms?" Blaine asked, skipping slightly to catch up with him.

"I need to talk to you, and I knew we weren't going to get any peace with all of them there."

"Talk about what?" Blaine asked, as they reached the toilets a few moments later. Kurt walked in and held the door open for him, and Blaine followed willingly.

The door swung shut behind them and Blaine was relieved to find that there was no one else in the bathroom.

"Your classes definitely went okay, then?" Kurt asked, moving close to him and gently linking their hands together. He kept vigilant of someone walking in.

"Definitely. Especially the ones with Rachel and Sam, I actually managed enjoy them."

"I'm so relieved. And no Karofsky incidents?" Blaine shook his head, and Kurt's face immediately softened.

"How about you?" Blaine squeezed his hand tightly, trying not to get lost in his stormy eyes. But as soon as they turned resigned, he started to panic.

"He hurt you again, didn't he? Show me where. I'll try to help the pain, I know a few things from –"

"Blaine!" Kurt shouted, grasping his other hand to try and calm him down. "Relax, okay? He just shoved me into the lockers, it was nothing bad." Blaine's face crumpled, and he ran his thumb over the perfect plains of Kurt's skin.

His voice turned soft and almost helpless. "Of course it's bad, Kurt. I don't want you hurt. I'm supposed to help protect you."

"You don't need to protect me, Blaine. It's the other way around. I've got you into this mess with Karofsky, so now I need to make sure you don't get harmed by him."

Blaine sighed, eyes flickering between Kurt's, taking a step closer. "We protect each other. Deal?"

Kurt nodded, eyes flickering to his lips, and Blaine closed the last few centimetres between them and pressed their dry lips together. It lasted only a second, but both boys' heartbeats started to race immediately.

The bell rang out around them, filling the lingering silence, and they both pulled back immediately, the sound shocking them.

Blaine chuckled, stepping back from Kurt in case someone came in.

"I guess I'll see you in Glee, then?" Kurt said, smiling lovingly at him and walking towards the door to the hallway. "Do you know where it is?"

"I'll find it, don't worry."

He gave Kurt one last gentle smile before he turned to walk down the corridor, leaving Kurt in his wake.

The day was going much better than he had thought.

* * *

"How's it going with Kurt, then?" Rachel said to him as they walked down the hallway towards the choir room. It turned out that she was in his Chemistry class, which he was really relieved about.

Blaine trusted Rachel, she had proved herself to him back when they first met. But Kurt hadn't stated whether he could tell anyone about their new relationship, and he didn't know if it was a good idea or not. If Rachel let it slip to anyone, they would be doomed.

But he wanted to tell her _so badly _because he wanted to boast. He wanted to scream out to the whole school that he might be in love with a beautiful boy named Kurt. So if telling Rachel was the nearest he could get, he should grab the chance, right?

He leaned closer to her as they walked, mouth hovering beside her ear as he whispered, "He kissed me."

He was pretty sure her scream that followed could be heard right around the school, and every person in the corridor turned to look at them in confusion. Blaine had to elbow her in the side just to get her to shut up.

"I _told _you!"

"Yes, Rachel, hush," he said quietly to try and lower her voice too. They walked in to Glee club, and she was still beaming at him.

Blaine immediately noticed Kurt, who was sitting in the corner, and he went over and sat in the chair next to him. He was a tad worried when Rachel followed him and stood in front of them, smiling wildly as her eyes flickered between the two of them.

"Blaine, what's she doing?" Kurt asked, staring up at her like she was insane.

"I'm so happy for you two! I'm going to hug you both now," she said, bending down to simultaneously hug them. Blaine chuckled as she pulled back and walked away, hands clasped over her heart.

"You told her, then?" Kurt asked, eyes narrowed, but a smile played on his lips.

"Was that okay?" Kurt nodded after a moment of teasing silence, before gathering him up into a hug.

Because Glee Club was their safe haven in school.

Blaine saw who he assumed was Mr Schue walk into the classroom, clapping his hands to signal his arrival. Blaine looked around and noticed that yes, all the members of the glee club (that he saw at lunch, anyway) seemed to be there.

"Guys! First point of call today is to introduce our new member, Blaine Anderson!" Kurt had told Blaine earlier that he had told the teacher that he was joining, so he knew in advance. His announcement was met with cheers and whoops from around the room, and Blaine blushed and waved shyly. "Blaine, do you want to audition today or later in the week? I know it's your first day, so I don't want to freak you out."

"Can I sing tomorrow?" he said, heart jumping at the thought of actually singing in front of a whole room of people. But he'd do anything to be in Glee club, so he would force himself.

"Sounds good! We can't wait to hear you, right guys?" Rachel shouted out louder than everyone else in agreement, and Blaine could feel his heart swell.

It was really nice to feel liked.

"Second! Blaine joining qualifies us for competing this year. Sectionals isn't that far away, so we need to start brainstorming songs. Any ideas?"

His question was met with multiple suggestions from the members, and Mr Schue laughed.

"One at a time, guys."

Throughout the next hour, Blaine surveyed the different members of the New Directions, trying to surreptitiously learn their names and get a hint of their different personalities.

By the end of the hour, he was pretty sure he had an okay grasp of everyone. He also found that there was not one person he didn't see himself becoming friends with.

He managed to sneakily hold Kurt's hand the entire time, which made his spirits soar.

It was the first time in a long while that he had actually enjoyed a day of school, and he had never felt more relieved.


	21. Chapter 21

**This is atrociously late, I know, but real life caught up with me. Thank you for the continued support! **

"You can never practice too much, Blaine! Number one rule!"

Blaine turned around and chuckled at Rachel as she headed off in the opposite direction than he and Kurt were going. Glee Club had just ended and he had managed to survive the whole day, and he was ecstatic.

"What are you singing for Glee tomorrow?"

"It's a surprise," Blaine answered, and Kurt groaned in frustration.

He then walked with Kurt in a companionable silence towards the gates of the school, of which he had walked through just eight hours before. It seemed like only five minutes ago. He bit his lip to try and stop the grin from slipping onto his face, and Kurt noticed in an instant, his mouth curving up at one side.

"Why are you so happy?" Blaine gave up trying to hide it and allowed the smile to spread across his face, shyly staring at the pavement beneath his feet as they continued to walk back home.

"Becaaaause," he drawled, "I just am!" Kurt budged him with his shoulder playfully.

"It was that good a day?"

Blaine sighed in content. "Yes, actually. I know it was a one off, but it was so _good _to have a whole day without being bullied. And I love Glee Club." He paused for a second, glancing at Kurt who was watching him intently. "And I loved being with you."

"Adorable," Kurt said, taking his hand for a short moment, before squeezing and letting go. "I didn't mind it much myself," he teased, and Blaine cocked his head and stared at him with his puppy eyes.

"Mean," he stated, pouting dramatically.

"What are you doing? You're insane." _Hopelessly adorable and stealing my heart, _he added internally.

"You love it," Blaine said playfully, his pout fading to a grin as they turned a corner, the crowds of students thinning to just a few dotted here and there.

"I do," Kurt whispered, and he watched Blaine as he smiled and looked up at the clear, bright blue sky.

"I feel like I can handle Karofksy, and I don't know why. He'll definitely notice me tomorrow, right?" Blaine said uneasily.

"You never know. You could be lucky, but it's probable." Blaine hummed in agreement.

"It's nothing I'm not used to, I guess."

"You'll be fine. _We'll _be fine," said Kurt, voice resolute and unwavering. Blaine hummed again.

They chatted about inconsequential things for the rest of the walk home, the easy conversation flowing through them as if walking home from school with each other was a daily occurrence.

Blaine loved it more than he could ever say.

They reached the Hummel's house in almost no time at all, and both boys had massive grins plastered onto their faces. As Kurt opened the door and allowed Blaine to walk in first, a frantic Burt immediately intercepted them.

"How'd it go? Are you both alright?" Kurt laughed as they removed their shoes, placing them neatly by the door before straightening up and answering his dad.

"It went fine. Great, actually. Karofsky didn't even notice he was in school." Burt let out a deep sigh of relief, visibly relaxing and walking over to capture Blaine in a strong hug. Blaine laughed, patting him on the back before pulling away.

"I told you it'd be fine, didn't I?" Burt said, grinning, and pulling Kurt in for a quick hug too. "How about you? He leave you alone today?"

Kurt grimaced, shrugging. "No, but no worse than usual. I'm fine," he nodded as if trying to convince himself of that fact, and Blaine frowned.

"Why can't he just leave you alone? I've a good mind to complain to Figgins about him again."

"No! Don't do that, it wouldn't help, you know that. It's fine, really."

Burt sighed again, shaking his head in resignation. "I hate feeling so powerless," he said honestly.

"There's nothing you _can _do, dad. I can handle it." Blaine moved closer to Kurt, feeling awful that he had gone on about his day being so good when, for Kurt, it had been just as bad as normal.

"Doesn't make me feel any better about it. You two go relax then, I'll be in the living room if you need me." With that, he walked away, leaving Kurt and Blaine in the hall.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Blaine moved so he was standing directly in front of Kurt, scanning his eyes for signs of distress or unhappiness.

"Yes! Come on, I have homework," Kurt dismissed Blaine, dragging him by the arm up the stairs and into Kurt's room. Blaine dropped his bag haphazardly on the floor, whereas Kurt laid his neatly on his desk, sitting down and pulling his books out.

Blaine flopped down on the bed, propping his chin up with his hands as he watched Kurt. "Please tell me you don't have tons of homework?" he said, eyeing the stack of textbooks he had just pulled out.

"It's not too much, I promise. Can you amuse yourself until I'm finished?"

Blaine sighed deeply, dropping his head to the bed and closing his eyes. "If I must."

"You're so dramatic. You should join the Drama Club." Blaine chuckled into the duvet, sneakily continuing to watch Kurt as he stood up, long legs accentuated by his black skinny jeans, and shirt clinging to the faint hint of muscles that he just should not have.

Blaine almost groaned in frustration. Though he was wholly inexperienced and didn't have a clue what he was doing, it didn't prevent him from finding his boyfriend attractive. His boundaries seemed to fly out the window when Kurt was around; he just wanted to _touch. _

"What're you looking at?" Kurt asked playfully, sitting back down on the chair after putting his bag away, tilting his head and smiling.

"Nothing," Blaine mumbled, nuzzling his face into the duvet to hide his blush. By the time he looked back up, Kurt had turned around and started his homework.

Blaine got up from the bed a few minutes later and, grabbing Kurt's iPod from where he knew it was always kept, placed it on the dock. He scrolled down to his 'Musicals' playlist and shuffled it. Cell Block Tango started to play, and pleased with the selection, he collapsed onto the bed again.

"Are you tired or just being lazy?" Kurt asked, though he didn't turn around.

"Bit of both," Blaine said, folding his arms and laying his head on them, closing his eyes and quietly singing along.

He managed to stay occupied for fifteen minutes before he broke.

"Kurt. Hey, Kurt. Kurt!"

"Yes, Blaine?" Kurt said in a wearied tone, finally turning around and giving Blaine his full attention.

"I'm bored, are you nearly done?"

"A while longer," Kurt said, a smile teasing at his lips, so he turned back around and continued with his work to hide it from Blaine.

Five minutes later, he interrupted I Dreamed a Dream.

"Kurrrttt," he moaned, getting off the bed and heading over to stand behind him.

"Uh huh?" Kurt said, tilting his head up to look at Blaine. Blaine just grinned, before leaning his head down and stealing a quick kiss.

Kurt looked at him, mockingly annoyed. Blaine just looked pleased with himself as he bopped Kurt on the nose.

"I never knew that you could be such child. Your true colours are coming out now, huh?"

"It was a previously undiscovered part of my personality, I must say." Kurt laughed at him, breaking eye contact and looking back down at the desk.

Blaine was suddenly in his line of view again, his face lit up with joy, before he leaned in and crushed their lips together, holding Kurt's cheeks so he couldn't break free and protest. Kurt didn't react under the soft fluctuations of his lips at first, but as Blaine pressed closer with more force, he resented and kissed him back, hands tangling in his dark curls.

"You'll be the death of me," Kurt gasped out, as Blaine took the lead and latched his mouth to his neck, sucking on the smooth, delicate skin just below his ear. He did so with more vigour as Kurt let out what was a cross between a shaky moan and a gasp. He moved up and started to nibble on his earlobe, caressing it with his tongue before Kurt pushed him off. "Dad could walk in any second," he managed to gasp out, but Blaine ignored him, pulling him up and to the bed. He persuaded Kurt to lie down, not knowing where all this confidence was coming from but trying to work with it, before following suit and latching their mouths together again.

"He won't come up," Blaine whispered, lips inches away from Kurt's own. He joined them again, this time tempting Kurt's mouth open by licking along his bottom lip. Kurt had gone pliant beneath him, little gasps coming from him every few seconds. Before he really knew what he was doing, Blaine's tongue had found its way into his mouth and had met Kurt's, twisting together in a wet, warm embrace.

It was unlike anything either of them had ever felt before, and they already couldn't get enough.

Blaine moved his hands to Kurt's hips, firmly clutching him as he tried to regain his breath. Kurt's hands had also settled on Blaine's hips, but had started to move down and tease at his waistband. It was far too fast but it felt far too good to stop.

"Do that agai –"

"Hey, dude, Burt's asking what you want on the pizz – woah. Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'll just, y'know, uh…"

Blaine could feel Kurt tense up as soon as he heard Finn's loud voice from the door, and he rolled away from him immediately. He couldn't answer Finn; he couldn't even _look _at him. This was incredibly humiliating and awful and _what if he told Burt _and it was all his fault for being so damn restless and oh god, they were doomed.

"Finn," Kurt said, voice surprisingly strong for someone who could barely breathe just a moment ago. "Come back in." His voice was resigned and slightly weary.

Finn came in, face bright red as he shut the door softly behind him and preceded to stand awkwardly beside it, looking like he wanted to run as far away from them as possible.

"What you just saw…you can't tell anyone. Especially Burt. Okay?" Kurt said, standing up from the bed shakily and straightening his shirt.

This seemed to snap Finn from his shocked, mute state. "But I don't understand. Why were you guys _kissing_?"

Kurt looked at Blaine for help, but Blaine just stared back, panic-stricken. This couldn't go well.

"Well…we, uh…we kind of have a…_thing._" Finn stared at him blankly.

"A thing? You mean, like, you're…_together?_" Kurt looked at Blaine again, before they both turned to Finn and nodded simultaneously.

Kurt wasn't sure if this was the best way to go about it – maybe they should have just wrote it off as…experimenting. But he didn't think Finn was as dumb as to believe that.

"But you're brothers! That's just wrong, man. What about Burt? And you!" He pointed at Blaine dramatically as Kurt tried to shush him. "I didn't even know you were gay! You could've told me."

"It, um…didn't come up," Blaine said helplessly, fighting the urge to put his head in hands in defeat.

"Will you calm down? This isn't that big a deal, you're blowing it completely out of proportion."

"Does Burt know?" he asked defiantly, crossing his arms.

"No," Kurt said.

"Do you think he'd be okay with it?"

"That's not…no. I don't know, okay? We didn't plan this or anything, it just happened! Please don't tell him."

Finn's eyes flickered from one grovelling boy to the other. He couldn't understand what was going on.

"You know I can't lie to save my life. Especially to _Burt._"

"Finn, please," Blaine pleaded.

"We'll tell him," Kurt said suddenly, looking as if even he was surprised at the words that had come out his mouth. Blaine looked at him in horror. "We'll tell him. Just give us to the end of the week, okay? Can you manage to not say anything for that long?"

Finn hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "I'll try." He gave them one last disapproving stare before leaving the room, the door shutting behind him with a loud thud, leaving only the soft music to break the silence. The two boys looked at each other in confusion, neither one fully realising what had just happened.

Blaine managed to speak a few moments later. "What the hell are we going to do?" Kurt shook his head silently, walking over to his desk and clearing the unfinished homework away lazily.

"I need fresh air. Can we talk outside?"

"Of course," Blaine answered, following Kurt as he walked out the door without turning back. They walked down the stairs without saying a word, heading to the back door and thankfully not meeting either Burt or Finn.

The air was still warm, caressing their bare arms gently as they moved to lie down on the grass instinctively.

It was different this time, however. They lay apart, and neither moved to close the space separating them. They were all too aware of the implications and the horror of Burt finding out.

Which, by the end of the week, he definitely would.

"I don't know what we're going to do," Kurt said honestly, answering Blaine's earlier question.

"We have to tell him. We don't have a choice now, because Finn will if we don't."

Kurt growled. "Why did he have to walk in at that exact moment? Couldn't we just have one day that was perfect?" He turned his head to look at Blaine, and Blaine met his eyes sadly.

"We were going to have to tell him eventually. We couldn't have kept it a secret forever."

"I suppose," Kurt grumbled, perturbed.

Blaine paused for a moment, contemplating. "There is another option," he said quietly. Kurt raised his eyebrows. "We could…not do this."

Kurt's face turned into a mask of horror. "No! That's…I can't deal with that. I can't lose you; I just found you. Please. Unless…unless you don't want to."

Blaine backtracked immediately. "That's not what I'm saying. I want this more that anything. But your dad…I can't go against his will. I owe him too much."

Kurt nodded in understanding. "What should we do then?"

Blaine deliberated for a moment, not happy with any of the possible courses that were outlining themselves in his head. "I guess…we have to tell him, and see what he says about it."

Kurt nodded again, but he surreptitiously linked their hands together so that no one looking from the house could see. Blaine smiled sadly at him, squeezing his hand in reassurance.

"It'll be okay," Blaine said, trying to instil hope in himself as well as Kurt.

"I hope so." _With everything in my heart. _


	22. Chapter 22

**I apologise in advance. And guys. GLEE'S BACK TODAY! *dies* Song is Falling Slowly by Once.**

Blaine dropped down into the same seat at the same lunch table he was at yesterday, Kurt already sitting in the seat beside him. Blaine smiled at him fondly, feeling the strong urge to kiss his boyfriend that advanced on him almost every time he saw him. He refrained, however.

"Hey, you," Blaine said cheerily, a grin starting to form on his face. Kurt blushed, blue eyes growing wide and a small smile forming on his face.

"Hey to you too," Blaine chuckled, starting to eat his lunch after saying hello to the rest of Glee club that sat around the table.

"Back again?" Puck said to him, and Blaine wasn't so scared of the boy now. On seeing him in Glee club, he had realised that he wasn't as bad as he made out to be. And Blaine prided himself on his judgement of character.

"I'll be around for the rest of the week," Blaine answered, and the boy just nodded, before delicately opening his yoghurt in the strangest fashion that Blaine had ever seen. He glanced at Kurt in question, but Kurt just shook his head and chuckled.

Definitely not as bad as he had thought.

"Everything go okay?" Kurt asked him after a few minutes of talking to Rachel about some new gossip on someone that Blaine didn't know about.

"Of course. How were your classes?" Blaine said, picking at his food, too busy staring at Kurt to bother to satisfy his hunger.

"The normal, I suppose." He looked around wistfully, before adding, "I missed you, though."

Blaine was sure he blushed a fiery red, and he glanced down at the table. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to being with Kurt.

But now, he wasn't so sure if he'd get the chance to try.

Since he and Kurt had decided on telling Burt about the situation, they each had felt a sense of urgency and desperation to be together, since a niggling thought in the back of their minds told them that their time could be running out.

They hugged a little longer before they left for school. They walked a little closer. Were more affectionate towards each other, but keeping inside the boundaries so that there would be no chance of Burt – or anyone else – catching them in the act. Finn hadn't managed to refrain from giving them shifty and suspicious looks all throughout the morning. Blaine hadn't looked him in the eye since the incident, and he was sure that Kurt hadn't managed to either.

"Blaine! Did you do what I said and practice loads?" Rachel was pointing at him from the other side of the table, and looked so menacing that Blaine actually recoiled.

"Um…I couldn't. Not properly, anyway. It's a surprise for… um…" He realised what he was saying could give away their relationship to the whole of Glee Club, so he glanced at Kurt quickly to show Rachel who he was talking about. She relented after a moment, sighing.

"Well, don't expect me to not say 'I told you so' if it all goes pear shaped!" She shook her head in a scolding manner, and Blaine thought she was acting too like a worried mum to be sane.

"It'll be okay," he reassured her, even though he wasn't entirely sure of this himself. He was really nervous. He had managed to find Brad, the pianist, through Rachel's directions and had told him the song, but he hadn't ever practiced it with just a piano in the background, plus singing in front of people never failed to make him nervous. But, in a way, he was ready. He wanted to be a fully fledged member of a club that he was proud and excited to be a part of, full of people he liked and admired. He was finally getting that chance, and he wanted it to come as fast as possible.

He just had to make sure that he didn't vomit from nerves whilst singing, which was entirely plausible, judging by the way he felt right now.

He pushed his food away from him, perching his chin on his hand.

"Are you confident?" Kurt asked Blaine, and he froze for a second before shaking his head.

"Not at all. But it'll be worth it if I can pull it off," he said, voice wavering slightly, and Kurt gave him a reassuring smile.

They next half hour passed by quickly as Blaine talked to various members of the Glee club about a range of topics, mostly consisting of him as they asked him questions. He happily answered them, ranging from the home to his favourite musicals.

He felt like he belonged.

The bell rang too soon for his liking, and he grudgingly rose from his seat whilst the rest of the pupils did the same.

He and Kurt's classes were in roughly the same direction and Blaine silently followed Kurt down a more deserted corridor that Kurt knew was never busy.

"It'll be fine, you know. Your voice is beautiful," Kurt said, giving him a small smile. Blaine blushed again, staring at the floor as they walked.

"Thank you. Your voice is gorgeous too."

"Look who we found at last!" A voice came thundering down the corridor, seeping into Blaine and Kurt's brains immediately and eliciting an instant fear in them.

"We were looking for you yesterday, but we couldn't find you. We wanted to introduce the new Lady to the school!"

Blaine turned around and saw Karofsky and the exact same boys that were at the mall coming closer to him, grins plastered onto their faces and eyes alight by the fact that they had new pray.

There was only a few other students in the corridor, none of whom bothered about Blaine enough to butt in as Karofsky pushed him roughly to the ground. He heard Kurt's shocked scream as his head smacked off the floor.

"I hope you're enjoying McKinley so far. It's great to see you after our little meeting at the mall – I thought we were never gonna meet again! Say hello to Ricky when you see him again for me, will you? He's one of us."

Blaine felt a foot career into his side and he gasped in pain, curling up into a ball and closing his eyes. He felt tears slip from his eyes – he stupidly thought that he had escaped from this. He had hoped, but he knew deep down that his peace had to come to an end. He just hadn't expected it so soon.

"Get the fuck out our school, fag. We can't have another one of you prancing about spewing rainbows."

With one last kick to Blaine's thigh, Karofsky walked off, his gang in tow, high fiving and whooping as they went.

Blaine ached all over.

"Blaine? Blaine, talk to me, I'm here, it's okay, I –"

He unconsciously flinched away from Kurt's reassuring hand that had rested on his shoulder, causing Kurt to break his sentence off midway. Feeling a sudden panic settle over him, Blaine managed to struggle to his feet.

He took one look at Kurt who was still kneeling down, staring up at with an emotion that Blaine couldn't quite figure out.

He snapped. Fighting his voice of reason, he ran down the corridor, away from Kurt, away from everything.

Tears streamed down his face relentlessly as he suddenly found himself inside the boy's bathroom. He couldn't even remember his journey there; it had seemed like only one second ago he had ran away from Kurt.

He checked the cubicles to make sure no one else was there, before going over to the sinks and leaning on one of them, staring at his desolate face in the grubby mirror.

All he could feel was the sharp pain in his head, stomach and thigh.

He slowly slid down to sit on the floor, clutching his head in his hands, tiny sobs escaping from him fast and thick.

He felt broken.

* * *

Kurt sat in his seat, fidgeting restlessly, eyes locked on the door and waiting for Blaine to come in.

Kurt hadn't been able to catch up with him after he ran away. He had been terrified for him ever since, because alone, Karofsky could do more damage.

As if he hadn't done enough already.

Kurt had known from the moment in the mall when Karofsky saw them together that Blaine would be bullied when he came here. He just hadn't thought it would be so brutal and escalate so quickly. He hadn't done anything to stop it, hadn't reacted quick enough. If he had done something, _anything, _maybe Blaine wouldn't now be alone and in pain.

Everything had gone downhill so quickly.

Member after member of the Glee club filed in, laughing and acting normally, their minds not yet furiously worrying about Blaine's welfare. When Rachel finally walked in, Kurt asked her hurriedly if Blaine had been at their last class, to which she answered that no, he wasn't.

His panic had grown.

Mr Schue was well on the way to starting the lesson when a rather dishevelled Blaine trudged through the door, eyes downcast. He smiled slightly at Mr Schue as he limped towards the seat beside Kurt, and Mr Schue looked at him in concern when he saw him wince.

"Blaine? Everything okay?" Once he had collapsed in his seat with a soft gasp of what Kurt expected was pain, he nodded at Mr Schue.

"Okay..." The teacher trailed off, apparently not concerned enough to pry further as he continued talking about song choices for Sectionals.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't find you, are you okay? How much does it hurt?" Kurt whispered, shuffling closer to Blaine. From here he could see the very faint tear tracks on both his cheeks. In that moment, all he wanted to do was collect Blaine in a hug and tell him everything would be okay.

Blaine shook his head slightly. "I'm fine, really," he said, giving him a half-hearted smile.

"Where did you go?" Kurt asked, settling his hand on Blaine's forearm instead.

"Bathrooms," he answered simply, and Kurt cursed himself silently for missing the most obvious place.

"I can see that you're not fine," Kurt said even more quietly, as he noticed a few of the kids leaning to look at Blaine and wondering what was wrong, and why he had been limping.

Blaine shrugged. "It hurts a bit, but it's not important." Kurt shushed him fiercely, frowning.

"Of course it's important. I care if you're hurt. I want to help." Blaine was just about to answer when Mr Schue interrupted their conversation.

"Blaine? You said you were auditioning today, right?" Blaine looked up at Mr Schue in confusion, as if he'd forgotten all about that, before realisation washed over his face.

"Uh, yeah. Do you want me to do it now?" He looked at Kurt, terror in his eyes, and Kurt stared back at him, worry set deep in his features.

"You don't have to if you're in too much pain," Kurt reminded him, but Blaine shook his head once again.

"If you don't mind, that would be great!" Mr Schue said. "We've all been looking forward to hearing you."

Blaine began his slow trek to the front of the room, limp just as prominent as before, and when he turned back around to face the club he could see multiple faces looking at him in concern. He glanced at Brad once, who nodded at him, before he stared resolutely at the floor.

His heart was beating at one hundred miles an hour, and looking at the floor seemed like the best way to calm his nerves.

Notes from the piano started flowing softly out from behind him and he took a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore the sharp pain in his stomach as he did so.

This would definitely not be his best performance.

_I don't know you  
But I want you  
All the more for that  
Words fall through me  
And always fool me  
And I can't react  
And games that never amount  
To more than they're meant  
Will play themselves out._

Before the chorus began, he chanced a look up at the occupants of the room. He was surprised to find most of them gaping at him with looks of disbelief on their faces.

He couldn't tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. All he did know was that his stomach hurt like hell.

_Take this sinking boat and point it home  
We've still got time  
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice  
You'll make it now_

Blaine had instructed Brad to end the song prematurely, unsure if he could deal with singing the whole thing due to nerves.

The next thing he knew, Kurt had flung himself into his surprised arms and everyone in the room was clapping loudly.

"I love you so much," Kurt said through the cacophony of sound, and Blaine drew in a deep breath, his heart beating even faster and tears springing into his eyes.

"I love you too."


End file.
